From the Side
by eraaxel
Summary: We’ve always followed Adell and the rest in their story, knowing how the relationships and trust they give are growing. However, what about the hired hands they get through the Dark Assembly? This story follows them... 3 of 5 updates this week done!
1. Chapter 1: Introduction to Veldime

**From the Side**

**Summary: We've always followed Adell and the rest in their story, knowing how the relationships and trust they give are growing. However, what about the hired hands they get through the Dark Assembly? This story follows them, and reveals a hidden relationship, fan clubs, and many other stories from the side.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Disgaea 2 or any of its characters no matter how much I wish I did. I DO however own an elite Samurai.**

**A/N: As a side comment, the names I'm using are names I have for my characters in this. So they might not be 100% original, but at least they aren't as noticeable as "Nekomata 1" or "Nekomata 2" right?**

~*~

As a fighter-for-hire there were many rules you had to play by. Rule number 1: Your ranking is decided on the number of missions you were on, the difficulty they were, the amount of levels you gained, and the length of time you were on them. Zarame strongly held a high position in that matter, but aspired for the top rank of all. Of course, that would require doing something great with a party, like kill an Overlord.

Rule number 2: Whenever you accept a mission, your level is instantly brought back down to one but you may or may not keep the skills you already have. This was a plus that gave mercenaries a chance to climb up. Though that wasn't the intention, as Zarame knew full well. The Senators wanted the people who hired others to work their way up to the worth that the people truly were.

Rule number 3: You obey your employer no matter the cost. This was more implied than anything. If your employer decided he didn't like you then he could just send you back. This was also why one tried their best to improve, but sometimes the opportunity didn't show itself.

Rule number 4: Do not create a relationship with your employer. This was also implied, and didn't mean you couldn't befriend them lightly, though most demons didn't. It was meant for love or "best friend" because otherwise you may get attached to your employer and that made you no longer a mercenary but rather a follower, a lackey, a soldier, or many other things that basically hurt the pride of a fighter-for-hire. No, stick to light communication and get done with your job as efficiently as possible, but take your time too.

And the rules went on, all scribbled into a notebook. Some rules left out in some notebooks because it was specific to each race, class, rank, and person. And while relationships weren't supposed to be formed with the one who hired you, many mercenaries befriended and even dated other mercenaries during a mission, with the understanding that if they ever faced each other in battle they would still fight to their fullest. It was the way of the mercenary after all.

When a mission was done, they returned to their home in whatever village/planet/galaxy they always went to. That was were Zarame, a Samurai, was at right then. His home, usually shared by two others so that they could split the rent. Brandon, a Gunner who had risen pretty fast considering how new he was, and Balkaroff, a Red Skull. They were both off at missions right then, though Zarame suspected Balkaroff would be back soon. He was mediocre in skill and somehow had been gone much longer than usual. Still, it was nice to have the house quiet for on--

"ZARAME PRINCE!" a voice shouted from down the stairs at the entrance to his two-story home. Zarame cringed and brushed back his black hair into the ponytail he wore as usual. He hated his last name, mostly because of the questions it formed from others which was why, despite the tradition of his land, he always had people call him Zarame and not Prince.

The person downstairs had a female voice, which already decreased the people who it could've been. There were only two women who ever visited here, Aerin and Amri. Since Amri, a Blue Mage, was off with her boyfriend, Balkaroff, Zarame assumed it was Aerin. Though the yelling should've given it away. Amri was shy for a demon and would never do that. Too bad, though, Zarame hated dealing with Aerin. After all, she was always there for the same reason if Brandon, her significant other, was away.

"Aerin, no need to shout," Zarame hissed as he climbed down the stairs. Aerin looked angrier than normal at the entrance, which was saying something. He sighed and finished off tying his hair. "What's wrong this time, Aerin?"

"I just got a job request," the archer replied. Zarame waited for more but nothing else came out.

"And? That's normally a good thing, Aerin. Rise in rank, money to spend of your unrequited love."

Aerin glared at Zarame. "The conditions are that I have to bring a swordsman as well. They need one ranged unit and one close range."

Oh. That's why she was angry. The only person who even used something besides a gun, bow, or staff that Aerin knew was Zarame. And she didn't particularly care for him.

"The Dark Assembly said that?"

"Apparently it was a request by a young male for two new mercenaries, one archer and one warrior. No warriors are available right now so they asked me to find someone suitable. So, you WILL help me out, right?"

What choice did he have? Besides, a job was always good and Aerin wouldn't give him peace, which was the only other thing better than a job right then, until he accepted the offer. "Fine, I'll go. Where is it at and who's our employer?"

"Some Adell kid, a human on the planet Veldime." Aerin looked confident suddenly.

Veldime? Zarame had heard that name recently, but he couldn't remember where. The blonde girl in front of him rolled her eyes at his puzzled expression.

"Veldime is the place that Overlord Zenon is apparently staying. And the place where the Dark Hero Axel died. Any of that ring a bell?"

That was right. Zarame remembered Usagi, the news reporter, saying something about both incidents. Were they going to hunt Zenon? If so, Zarame hoped the team had enough skill to at least be able to face him on equal or maybe even a little less skill. A quick conversation with the White Dragon Party, Zarame and Aerin's representatives, and the Senator Venus, Aerin's sister surprisingly, and the two were off to find out the answers to Zarame's questions.

~*~

There were several surprises that Zarame encountered on the trip. The first was that they weren't hunting the Overlord, though his employer, Adell, obviously had intentions of eventually facing him and releasing some curse on the planet.. The second was that their current mission was to help free Adell's little brother and sister from the apparently-not-deceased Axel. Oh how sweet.

Another surprise came in who he was traveling with, and Aerin's determination to accept the job became obvious. Brandon had apparently been with these people for a while. Aerin wanted to be with him on their first mission together in ten years, unfortunately for her Brandon's best friend, Zarame, was also there.

The last surprise was one that Adell and a few other companions who weren't mercenaries tried to not reveal too much but failed considering the girl they were with, Rozalin or something, kept proclaiming it whenever she introduced herself. Rozalin was Overlord Zenon's daughter. Why she was with Adell who apparently wanted to kill her father was because of a failed summoning or something.

Zarame got introduced to everyone in his group once they were half way through the Dallos River, a tourist attraction on the plane as it ran through most of the major continent. There was Brandon, Aerin, and Waffle, a rogue with a bow, as their ranged team. Rozalin was also apart of this team, meaning they had two people who used guns and two who used bows. Zarame and a ninja named Zane were the only sword users. However, they also had two fist fighters. One was his employer Adell and the other was another ninja named Shito. For spell casters they had one of three types. Nagi was their offensive caster, a prism mage, Miriam was their healer, and Ran was a kunoichi who dealt all sorts of status spells. As for monsters, only Kuno, a Nekomata, and a Cu Sith named Fenrir were there for fighting. There was a frog named Tink but he didn't fight and there were two other monsters-- a white dragon named Eclipse and a ghost named Whisper. Those two stayed behind to keep the party a fair even 10, according to Adell at least. Ah, Chilvalry. Why was it that Zarame was hating Adell more each second?

Brandon was Zarame's best friend, so he knew him rather well. Probably one of the best shooters of all, friendly for a demon, and definitely open minded about people's opinions. The downside to him was he was picky and a closet Etna fan. This was one reason he never returned Aerin's feelings, despite the fact they were dating. "Etna is the one for me, I just don't want to be on the tail end of Aerin's Delta Split," Brandon had said once.

Aerin was a grouchy Archer in love with Brandon for his skill and willingness to accept her policy of female independence (which meant that when people requested Ninjas or Fighters they didn't get a choice in gender). She was short tempered and her skill with the bow was only slightly above average, but she had a sharp mind and could strategize rather fast.

Waffle was a trickster and not a complete ally. She defined Demon rather well, someone who didn't care much about others and only did things that helped her out. She still tagged along because she wanted to meet Overlord Zenon and possibly steal some of the items he kept hidden. She was more skilled with the bow, though not as strong as Aerin, and her skill in stealing was second to none. Apparently she was one of three people who had been traveling with Adell since the beginning still.

Zane was closed off, distant, and hardly ever socialized, choosing instead to guard the side or back of the party. Zarame respected him for that. And what Zane lacked in power he made up for in speed. He was often chosen to infiltrate the enemy lines and attack from inside. Each time, he came out fairly unscathed.

Shito and Ran were siblings and worked well together. During battle they stuck by each others sides and could perform combos Zarame had never seen. Shito wasn't the best at damaging and his speed was less than the other ninja, but with Ran's assistance it was hard to see that. They were friendly but definitely made it clear that they were closer to each other than anyone else. Though Ran had expressed concern that Shito was showing interest in Waffle lately.

Nagi and Miriam were the other two who had been with Adell since the beginning of the adventure. Through this they had befriended each other. They both were intelligent and cast their spells over a large distance. Nagi had a lot of vitality and could take a lot of hits while Miriam, like most other priests, took little damage from magical spells so even if one was hurt the other could cover for them. Apparently they were teaching each other their spells as well.

Kuno could talk and often tried to spark conversations with Zane since he didn't talk much. That was before Zarame came though. As of late, Zarame had to deal with the cat monster and while he, too, didn't like to talk much, he responded to her to try and get her away from him. However, that encouraged her and she kept talking to him. In battle, Kuno was very good at countering, moving, and could hit hard, but her issue was that she had little accuracy. Her hits sometimes flew wildly around her like a five-year-old pretending to be a Prism Ranger. In fact, maybe she was five years old. It would explain a lot.

Fenrir was a loyal dog and outside of Aerin and Zarame, he was the newest member. He could take a hit and keep on moving, so he was often sent out to aid Zane when the area they were fighting didn't have much to climb on. There wasn't much to say about him, though.

Adell was a red haired, chivalrous, fight-obsessed, _human _of all things. While he had skill, power, and speed that hit just under or above anyone else who specialized in that category, Zarame hated him for his personality. He was the only one who could come close to power with Zarame, though, and still be able to hit the enemy, so the two often fought together.

Tink apparently was a servant to Rozalin with two personalities who had been transformed by someone. "Childhood friends" actually, not servant. He was useless in a fight, and though he said he'd help with the battle plans, he was useless there too. But he was good to pick on if one wanted to laugh, so Zarame didn't hate him too much.

Rozalin was arrogant, but somehow she too was open minded and friendly, like Brandon. For having just started fighting, supposedly, she was skill with the gun. She couldn't take a hit and hated to run very far, but she put effort into what she did. Zarame found himself respecting her as well, though he still wondered why she was with a man who wanted to kill her father. Especially since she had such pride in being the daughter of the Overlord of all Overlords.

"Hey Zarame, snap out of it. We've got company apparently," Ran called back to Zarame, who was the rear guard at the moment. Zarame looked up to see a large group of Nekomata and a few Beast Tamers.

"Cousins?" he asked Kuno, who was hanging back a little bit too. Kuno grinned and bounded forward.

"Clansmen!" she called. One lunged a kick at her, which made her slide back. "Owie…"

"Nekomata, attack the people who dare stand in the way of the great Dark Hero Axel!" one Beast Tamer shouted. Oh great, somehow Axel still had fans.

Zarame found himself by Kuno's side, pulling her back to avoid a beam. "Not so friendly cousins. Let's show them why they shouldn't mess with us," he growled, pulling out his sword.

Adell, as battle crazy as ever, held his fists up. "We will save my brother and sister!" he called to his troops as if that would raise their morale. Zarame rolled his eyes.

~*~

A/N: And in the next chapter, a battle! Sorry that most of this was introductions… Too many characters _ Won't be as bad next chapter. Review please ^_^


	2. Chapter 2: Protection and Retaliation

From the Side

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own Disgaea nor it's awesome music nor Winged Slayer, which may be the most awesome skill in the game and will unfortunately not be appearing in this chapter. Yes, you may all weep now.

A/N: For those who care, here is my current party.

Adell--Prism Black--Fists

Rozalin--Overlord's Daughter--Guns

Zarame--Kengou--Sword

Zane--Oniwaban--Sword

Brandon--Hitman--Gun

Waffle--Scout--Bow (Used to be Yukimaru)

Kuno--Tailring--Monster

Nagi--Prism Skull--Staff

Miriam--Cardinal--Staff

Odin--Death Avenger--Axe

All of which will appear or have appeared in the story.

~*~

Adell, as battle crazy as ever, held his fists up. "We will save my brother and sister!" he called to his troops as if that would raise their morale. Zarame rolled his eyes.

Brandon slipped up beside him, as quick as ever, and knelt down beside the two in front. "Are you two okay?" he asked, one hand grabbing his gun for when the next Nekomata came into the line of fire of his gun.

"Fine, Brandon," Zarame growled, his sword held by his side, ready to be lifted into an upper slash at any time. "Now get to the back of the lines like a good sharp shooter or Aerin will have my head for letting you up here and getting hurt." Brandon nodded and scurried back.

"Owie, they hurt me," Kuno mumbled. She rubbed her arm where a little bit of blood was trickling down.

"It was only a nick, suck it up cat girl," Zarame replied. They'd still have to ask their cleric for a quick heal later. They? No, Kuno would. Zarame had more important things to handle, none of which were motivated by saving two human brats from a worse demon hero-wannabe. Especially since the two human brats were related to an even worse human "knight." His motivation came from one thing: the pursuit of a greater rank.

One cat girl, the one that launched the Cat Blast, charged at him and went to kick him. Zarame pulled his blade up in the way and blocked the blow, though the force put into it still caused him to step back and he bruised one of the hands holding the sword. Another fix from the healer, maybe he'd visit her with Kuno after all. In retaliation, Zarame charged towards the Nekomata, dodged slightly to the side so that his blade sliced through her with incredible ease. The monster fell to the side, dead. Zarame glanced down and sighed at her. These people were easy. What did they make monsters out of these days?

"Hey there was no need to kill her?" Mr. Chivalry hollered at the samurai. What did you want him to do then? Let it take him down and kill him instead? "Besides, it might be related to Kuno right? You don't want to break your friendship by killing one of her relatives." Did Zarame ever say he wanted Kuno as a friend? No? Didn't think so. Still, Adell did a pretty nice show by taking another Nekomata, tossing her into the air and jumping up after her, to through her onto the ground once more. She didn't die, but obviously she wouldn't fight much more. "Like that!"

This fight was going to take longer than expected. However, Adell's orders were absolute. He didn't want to be fired or that would practically be a minus to his rank. Zarame could hear the upper ranks laughing at him for failing so fast. So it was Adell's way or the highway.

Zarame found himself facing another Nekomata , sword held down at the ready in order to cut it open and then hesitated. How was he not supposed to kill? While he was thinking the cat creature scored a kick on him, knocking him into the air. It jumped up after him and then kneed his face and slammed him into the ground, flipping back to where it started. The samurai was stunned and the Nekomata came running after him for a second strike.

Still enveloped in the green light of healing, Kuno came bursting in the way and slid in front. Taking the blow hard, she still managed to retaliate with a kick of her own. That was also countered by the Nekomata, but Kuno didn't let up either and she punched her possible cousin in the face once more, knocking it out. Her opponent down, Kuno spun around and grinned. "Debt paid!"

Zarame couldn't help but let out a laugh. "That it is," he replied. At least she knew how to fight, and well at that. He may have underestimated her after all.

Meanwhile, the ranged units were holding up decent fire and backing the rest of the crew up. Of course, Brandon and Aerin were used to fighting with each other and there was little to worry about. Zane, like usual, had jumped into the heat of the fight and tried to take it out from within with Fenrir right at his side. Sometimes it seemed like those two had been battling side by side for ages.

The only hint of a problem came when one Beast Tamer managed to get close enough to fire an arrow in Rozalin's direction. Ran tried to get it out of the air but wasn't quite dexterous enough and the arrow continued, true to its set path. The only thing the people in the front line had as a clue to something going past them was the brief flash of white and red and the wind that followed as Adell jumped in front of Rozalin, holding both hands over his face so that they took the arrow.

"Adell!" Rozalin cried, her voice echoed by the rest of group that was close enough to witness it. Zarame slammed the handle into another Beast Tamers head and spun around as Adell dropped his injured arm, wincing.

"Curse you, Mr. Chivalry! Getting yourself killed isn't what we're here to do!" Zarame shouted. Wait, what did he care? Without Adell, no one could send him back and he could continue training and take on Zenon himself if he so desired. In fact, he could instead get Rozalin to hire him into the army of the Overlord.

Shito and Ran both ran off and came back, carrying Miriam, who was struggling and saying that she could bring herself there on her own. "Not fast enough," Shito protested, setting the healer down. Nagi, who was following behind them and officially out of breath, chuckled at the comment.

Ran and Shito both sat down afterwards, realizing the battle would be over before they managed to return to the fray. After all, Zarame, Kuno, Zane, and Fenrir had already dispatched a majority of the enemies. Several would be sporting nice handle shaped bruises or claw marks the next day and only one would permanently remain there until her clansmen felt like giving her a proper funeral.

Kuno came dragging Zarame up and gestured to the samurai. "After Adell, heal Zarame."

"I'm fine," the samurai muttered, tugging away and then stumbling a bit as if proving himself wrong. He touched his stomach and winced, knowing he had a few broken ribs at the very least. Still, he glanced at Kuno's arm where the blood was spilling now. "You need it more than me. You took two straight hits in addition to the blast."

Kuno giggled and shook her head. "You first." She then trotted off to talk to Aerin and Brandon, who were getting into a heated debate. Zane and Fenrir had found a seat near them to watch the show.

"Next time, let me take care of MY enemies and you take care of yours. I am skilled enough to take them on alone. Unlike you, I didn't join recently so I'm not level 1!" Brandon barked.

"Maybe if you let me follow you in the first place I too would be able to take care of solo enemies! And I'm not rank 1, I'm 15!" Aerin replied, her voice carrying over Brandon's due to its higher pitch.

"I wanted some time by myself, without any of you! And then not only do you come but you force Zarame in this as well!" Brandon retorted. Aerin opened her mouth for another comment but got cut off by Kuno, who was suddenly right in front of Brandon, staring at him with begging eyes.

"You are friends with Zarame from before?" she asked, curiosity in her voice and pleading still in her eyes. Brandon backed up slowly and nodded. Kuno grinned again. "Good! I was afraid I was getting behind you. You seem closer to Zarame than I, despite my effort. This explains it!"

"No, no, I think your effort is actually hurting your friendship," Brandon responded, waving a hand as if brushing off the subject.

"How so?"

"He's not a big person for the clingy type, and that's what you seem to be," Brandon explained.

"Really? Then what type of person does he like?"

"I don't really know. I suppose anyone who's skilled in battle." Brandon smirked at the Nekomata. "Why so curious?"

"No reason!" Kuno replied, smiling again and then bounding off. Zane and Fenrir turned to each other and the ninja shrugged.

~*~

Even with the healing spells from Miriam, Adell and Kuno had to have their injured arms bandaged. After that, though, they continued their march forward. The Nekomata didn't chat at all with the samurai and instead, during their brief breaks as they tried to speed up their progress, she went off to train in the corner. Zarame didn't make any hints that he noticed this change, but the sudden switch secretly disturbed him like no other. And it had happened since she returned from her talk with Brandon and Aerin.

"I wonder what's up," Zarame pondered aloud as he watched the river widen beside him. Soon they'd be hard pressed to throw someone across, much less cross it themselves. A smart villain would hold his hostages on the other side, out of firing range of guns, spells and bows.

"Ha ha! You guys really came! I bet you didn't know that this was a trap!" hollered a voice, full of confidence. The group turned to see a man in a large white trench coat with blonde spiky hair. He was just up ahead… on their side of the path. "Now return the princess you kidnapped!"

"No wonder there's a rumor that he's dead floating around. I'm surprised he's not," Brandon joked, nudging Zarame as he talked. Zarame nodded in agreement, glancing absent-mindedly at the Nekomata who had been bugging him earlier. He caught her eye and then watched her turn away immediately after.

"Odd," Zarame said.

"I know. Even a five year old would have more sense than that," Aerin muttered, not realizing what he was talking about. Judging by Brandon's grin, though, the gunner did and misunderstood it to mean far more than it was.

Zarame shrugged and then noticed the army in front of the Dark Hero and then a pink haired girl and gray haired boy. Both were demons. "Are those your siblings?" Zarame asked Adell, pointing at the kids.

Following his fingers, Adell jumped. "Hananko! Taro! Are you two alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine Adell, now that you're here! I knew you would rescue us, right Tardo?" the pink haired girl cheered. She obviously had a brother complex.

The silver haired boy upon further inspection also had horns and a cow-print on his outfit. The girl, likewise, had wings on her back and pink pants. Tardo, as he had been dubbed by Hanako, waved. "Princess! You came!"

"Princess, should we start calling you that too?" Aerin asked Rozalin, who puffed her chest out in response.

"Of course! You should treat me as a princess and call me as such as well," Rozalin replied, full of pride and oblivious to the sarcasm the archer had meant.

"They look like a cow and a fairy," Zarame noted. "Taken by some evil lord who wants a few more grains of rice or something."

Brandon laughed at that comment, as did Kuno though she tried to mute her laughter. Adell glared at Zarame, making the samurai realize he shouldn't have said that because he was risking being fired even more.

"That's my brother and sister you're talking about!" Adell shouted.

"Who look, to me, like demons. But you're human, unless you're hiding something," Zarame replied.

"I'm the only human left on Veldime! Everyone was once human but they got turned by--"

"Zenon's curse, yes yes we know. But now shouldn't we get the brats now," Brandon interjected.

"Oh that's what the curse is," Zarame muttered.

"Anyway, let's go, we need to free them!" Adell called, running ahead. He collided into an invisible wall in front of him and fell backwards. The whole group glanced down to see a wall formed by geo panels.

Geo panels were manipulated by geos, a magical device used for many purposes including powering up whoever stands on them or even blocking them as this one was doing. The ability only worked within a certain range and only on panels of corresponding colors to whatever panel the geo was on. Few ever understood it all the way through. It was, after all, made by old men who spent their time learning to float. Everyone else just used their discovery to their advantage.

So, in the end, they had a wall in front of them that they could do nothing about. Axel laughed as they stared at the panels.

"Discovered my genius already? You can never get your siblings back! You just have to stand there while my hired hands beat you up!" Axel shouted.

He was, admittedly, smarter than expected. Except one thing… "How do you expect to get to us if we can't even get to you?" Rozalin asked after testing a few bullets on the geo panels. The result was failure. However, her words made sense.

"Oh shoot," Axel stated, glancing around.

"To our right," Zane said suddenly, making everyone turn around to face the ninja. Zane gestured across the river where a yellow geo was sitting. "It's over there."

"Another smart point for Axel. He's got two now?" Brandon asked, grinning. "And five dumb points."

"Only five? I thought it was reaching one hundred and nine," Rozalin retorted.

"Hey! I can hear you!" Axel shouted.

"Good!"

"Hey guys, can we concentrate on the task at hand?" Nagi requested, looking across the river. "My spells can't reach that far and Waffle said that she can't reach that far. What should we do?"

"The answers simple," Miriam answered, gazing across the river. "We'll have to throw someone across."

"What? I refuse to be the one thrown or doing the throwing!" Rozalin protested.

"It doesn't have to be you, we have eleven capable people or creatures who can throw or be thrown. The question is who will do what?" Miriam responded. "Whoever gets thrown may not be able to return, ever."

Zarame glanced around. He could throw far, as could Zane and Adell probably. However, who would they be able to trust on the other side who was light weight. They had to be able to hit hard, take a few hits, and be loyal. Zarame could see at least two units on the other side.

A brief memory passed by Zarame's eyes, of Kuno taking those hits for him. She wasn't heavy either, which he learned when he pulled her away from the beam. And she could hit hard. Nodding to himself, Zarame stepped forward. "I'll throw Kuno across. She's trustworthy and can hit hard."

"Okay, good enough," Miriam stated, accepting that plan in a manner that made Zarame think he could've said he'd throw a wood golem that had betrayed them several times and she'd would have accepted it. Thank goodness there were no traitorous tree giants in their party.

All the Dark Hero could do was watch as the samurai stood at the edge with the cat monster right next to him. It was closer where they were to the other side of the river than anywhere else within eye view. Zarame nodded at Kuno and then knelt down to grab her by her feet. "Cats land on their feet don't they?" he asked, a smirk forming on his face. "Good luck." He stood up and then tossed her with all her might. Kuno flew across the sky and landed, barely, on the other end clinging with all her might to the ground beneath her.

"Go Kuno! You've got a responsibility!" Zarame shouted. Kuno turned around and nodded, smiling brightly at him.

"I won't betray your trust!" she responded. With that she spun around to face one opponent, a thief who was waving a pistol angrily at the intrusion. It was easy for her to dodge the first shot, and by the second shot, though she got hit hard on her shoulder, Kuno managed to kick the thief into a tree, knocking her unconscious. Kuno laughed and then turned to the tiny pyramid known as a geo. As an overkill action, she kicked the geo away and off into the river. Instantly, the geo panels stopped glowing, though the group was still yellow.

On the side of the river with the wall, the others cheered and charged forward. Hesitantly, Zarame glanced back, but Kuno was already engaging the other gun-toting thief. Waffle punched his side, glaring at the samurai.

"Focus, swordsman," Waffle stated, then giggled and ran ahead to join the rest of the group of ranged attackers. The samurai noticed that Waffle and Nagi seemed to get along, which surprised him.

He pulled his sword out and then ran to the front with Adell, Zane, Fenrir, and Shito. It was easy to overtake Axel's army. They weren't well organized, though admittedly they had a nice arrangement at first. Two Heavy Knights, who were known for withstanding a lot, were in front with two convicts. Behind them were two more thieves wielding bows. Axel himself had two body guards with him on nice red panels that, judging by their confidence, meant they were invincible. Panels could do that.

Admittedly, it was the panels that they put to use. When the enemies were on panels that increased their strength, those that could take a hit on their side stepped onto the defense based panels. Tink floated in the back and was checking out what the panels did, shouting them off to the team and proving that he too could be useful.

The only problem came when Rozalin stepped up too close to handle a bow thief and found a spear going in her direction. She yelped as she was about to be hit until once again the red haired human jumped in the way, taking the hit and immediately retaliating with a powerful blow. He winced and knelt down once the enemy was unconscious.

"You fool!" Rozalin shouted.

"Are… you okay Rozalin?" Adell asked.

"You-- You are the one who is not "okay!" Why are you doing all that? Why are you protecting me again?" Rozalin barked. She made it sound like he was always protecting her, which was in interesting bit of information. Even as they spoke, Adell was surrounded by the green glow of Miriam's healing.

"I promised I'd get you back to your father. I keep my promises," Adell replied as if that answered everything. Rozalin blushed as he said that.

"I know," she stated, but failed to come up with any comeback. Adell was already returning to battle anyway.

After that, it was easy to take down everyone outside of the red panels that Axel was standing on. And then they all gazed threateningly at the blonde. Panicked, the Dark Hero didn't come out. It wasn't until Shito ran past them saying "I'll handle it" did anyone realized was could be done. The ninja jumped over Axel and then quickly spun around to strike him. Being on the red panels as well, the two bodyguards couldn't hurt him. Instead, Shito punched Axel once with no result, but his combo didn't end there. After another ineffective punch, Shito did an uppercut which sent Axel skidding off of the panels and back to vulnerability. Before he could run back on, Ran appeared behind him and lifted him up.

"He's all yours!" she called, tossing him as far as she could, which landed him in front of Zarame, but the swordsman also picked up Axel and threw him at Adell, having a better ability to throw than Ran anyway.

"Finish him off Mr. Chivalry."

"Stop calling me that!" Adell responded, glaring at Zarame who laughed in response.

Adell lifted Axel up just enough so that he feet could only touch the ground if stretched. Zane, Ran, and Waffle were taking care of the two guards who had left the red panels in an attempt to save Axel.

"Okay! I get it!" Axel coughed, struggling to get free. "You guys have done something to the princess! You're doing some mind-control thing from the future, aren't you?"

"What kind of story have you come up with now?" Adell sighed, having lost any will to beat up the fool with that stupid statement. He let Axel go who jumped back in a showy manner.

"You can't fool me! Its up to me to free her! Axel, the Dark Hero, will once again save the-- OW!" Axel spun around to glare at Hanako, who had freed herself from a cameraman--camerazombie to be precise.

"You leave Adell alone!" she barked with all the threatening manner of a Chihuahua.

"Hey you little twerp!" Axel tried to grab her but she just jumped out of the way.

Taro climbed up on a rock to get a better view and shouted at his pink-haired sister worriedly. "Hanako! Be carefu--" He began before he slipped and went crashing into the river beside them.

"Taro!" Adell shouted.

"Kid!" came a call from Brandon, surprising Zarame a bit. However the bigger surprise came when he heard another splash from the other side of the river. Kuno had just jumped in after him. He saw the cat demon swimming rapidly towards Taro, barely managing to grab him.

"Oh no…" Axel whimpered.

"Adell we need to go after him!" Rozalin stated, acting odd with the worry she was showing.

"Right, he's my little brother.""But Adell, that goes into the Cave of Evil. They say no one ever returns from there!" Hanako said.

"We can't just leave him there to die!"

"Then take me with you! I'll be able to help if you do! Besides, you can't leave me here!"

Adell hesitated for only a moment. "Fine, we don't have time to debate this anyway." And with that the group began to search for another way down.

~*~

A/N: This chapter just kept getting longer and longer… I apologize if the ending seems rushed, I was just so happy to get to finally post this. Thanks to those who have reviewed.

Next Chapter Hints: More on Zane and Fenrir as well as the sibling ninjas~!

Review please too!


	3. Chapter 3: Darkness Overwhelming

From the Side

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Disgaea 2, but I do own a copy of it.

A/N: I apologize for the delay, a lot has happened in my life recently. Special thanks to Natural'Kaoru who was the only one to review the last chapter… And a thanks to Watery-the-Strange and Beauty-Queen-Etna-the-Demon-Lord who at least reviewed the first one.

(PLEASE Read and Review?)

~*~

"Veldime? Isn't that place the location of Overlord Zenon?" one male demon asked, leaning back in his chair. The velvet covering made it a comfortable throne. He found himself unwilling to get up despite the importance of the message he just received. Instead, his red eyes closed and he didn't even put effort into pinning up his long black hair or tossing on clothes other than his red silk robes he slept in that night.

The White Dragon tried to keep calm, even though he felt greatly insulted by the seemingly sleeping state of his boss. "Yes, and rumors are there was a Snow Clan there and a few other hidden demons even before Zenon turned it into a Netherworld."

After a long pause, the response came. "Why are you telling me this?"

"We have reason to believe you'll find the man you've been after there," the dragon replied.

"What reasons?"

"It was pricey, but we managed to bribe the Dark Assembly into telling us that they warped him there."

"You trust the Dark Assembly? The place that makes profit off of being evil, lying, and otherwise causing trouble to any respectable demon?"

"Even the Dark Assembly can tell the truth with enough Hell."

The boss finally sighed and stood up. "Fine. We'll get ready and head there soon. You are dismissed. Go talk to lady Friday and see if you can get the Veldime warp for us specifically."

"Immediately, sir."

~*~

Due to the darkness of the Cave of Evil, there ended up being a division in ranks. There were those who could see really well in the darkness, as if it was their second home. That included Fenrir and the three ninjas. Then there were those who could at least make out silhouettes. These were Hanako, Waffle, Brandon, and Tink. Then there was everyone else, who probably wouldn't be able to spot something even if they were given the exact location with very fine detail.

They'd been traveling for an hour with this whole problem, letting the sibling ninja's lead with Hanako and Waffle while Fenrir followed in the back, Zane took the left side and Brandon and Tink took the right side. With that they felt a little safer, knowing ambushes would be harder to pull off.

Ran stopped for a second and glanced at her brother, Shito stopping as well though he didn't turn. "See it?" she whispered, glancing ahead again.

"Yes. Orcs. Should we tell the others?" Shito replied, keeping his expression calm. Ran's expression wasn't so much.

"If we do, we tell them that we're going after them ourselves," Ran growled, her eyes focusing on the lead Orc. "Look at the one in front. He's got something that may interest you."

Shito didn't move. "I noticed a while ago, Ran. However, he's not the leader, probably just a lieutenant. There's a lot too, I recommend we call the others."

"You're going to cower away because of numbers? We'll have to face hundreds more in later!"

"Even so," Shito muttered. He trailed off though, leaving the two siblings a little ahead of the rest of the group and in silence. It wasn't until Zane, abandoning his post at the side, appeared that the two moved again.

"See something?" the ninja said, looking at them as though he already knew.

Ran hesitated, leaving her brother the chance to nod. "A few orcs ahead."

"Should I tell the others?" Zane asked, his eyes still neutral but knowing.

"Yes, but tell them to leave the leader to us," Shito noted. The other male ninja nodded and then jumped back. Soon everyone was in battle positions again.

"I can't see a thing," Zarame muttered.

"We'll have to fight blindly then," Adell said. "Makes the fight more fair!"

"Fair? Fighting with vision's fair, this is giving them a handicap," Rozalin replied.

"That's fair in Mr. Chivalry's book," Zarame added.

Due to the darkness, the group's activity became limited. Fenrir stayed behind, to keep an eye on any further ambushes, and the two related ninjas went on ahead. Zane and the four that could see a little bit decided to take care of the weaker orcs.

Waffle would fire an arrow from the side to attract one orc's attention, letting Zane jump up next to them and surprise them, but even then he'd transform into a log and once more appear behind them, taking the enemy out in one it. Brandon on the other hand chose to take things up close in person, probably because all he saw were the silhouettes. He held his gun next to his target, charged a blast from the Godfather he held and then fire, the attack pushing him back quite a distance. Hanako kept shouting cheers to the others, making them laugh and boosting morale surprisingly, while Tink "guarded" the group with no vision.

"Tink, you could do something useful for once," Zarame growled. "Besides looking at Geos."

"I'll have you know I AM doing something useful. If I flee, you know zat means an enemy is near, oh ho ho!" the frog creature stated.

"That's not something you should proudly announce," the samurai replied, sighing.

~*~

"Taro, Taro! Wake up!" Kuno muttered, shaking the boy's body.

"Uh… Oh? Where am I?" the small boy whispered, sitting up. His gray hair was slightly red from hitting his head on something, and he had scratch marks all over his body, but over all there was nothing too severe injury wise. For this, the Nekomata breathed a sigh of relief. Using only her right hand, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail to get it out of the way and began to bandage Adell's younger brother.

"Don't move too much or the bandages will fall off," Kuno said, grinning as she finished. "I'm glad I brought that tunic with me to use like this. I think I have some cotton candy with me too, that'll make you feel better."

"Uh, Miss Kuno? Are you okay?" Taro asked, looking at Kuno's arm that she refused to use. The cat demonn jumped.

"Mrow? What? Oh, yeah I'm fine. It just hurts a little, but I didn't have enough bandages to cover everything. Don't worry, when Miriam finds us she'll patch us up real well. Come on, let's go towards the exit. Maybe we'll find the others."

"Okay," Taro responded, nodding. However, as he stood up he fell back down, one foot flung out now. "Ow." He held back the tears as he turned to see what stopped him from getting up. One root had wrapped around his leg, holding him immobile.

"How'd that happen?" Kuno asked, frowning at the plant. She tried to pry it off with one arm, but failed. "I can't get it off!" she cried, pulling on it with all her might. Her hand slipped and she fell backwards, hitting the roots behind her but not getting tangled fortunately. She sat back up and thought for a moment. A sharp object could easily remove it. Zarame… but he wasn't here. He might not even care to go in this place. She could break it open herself, but the force required using her one arm or her feet would likely hurt the boy and put him in a worse condition than she was.

"We'll have to wait here, then," the pink haired girl muttered, patting Taro's head. "I'll guard you for now from anything that may come.

~*~

The minions were easily disposed of but even as Zane was tying up the last of the, he knew that Ran and Shito's fight was not over. Nor was it going to be over soon, unless it ended in a way no one wanted.

Ran was standing a fair distance away, her staff held readily by her side but panic making her unable to focus any tricks she knew. Her brother on the other hand was kneeling on the ground, horribly battered and breathing heavily. He clenched his fists and attempted to stand up again, but the leading orc's mace came slamming down onto his head again. Ran yelped for her brother, who took it silently.

"Shito!" she called, running forward and standing in between the orc and her brother.

"You two look familiar," the monster muttered, chuckling under his breath. He stared at them for a few moments before noticing something tattooed on Shito's right hand, revealed from one time where his hand slid on a rock. "Oh, you must be Aki's brats. I heard some survived. Does that mean you're after… this?" He pulled out a feather that was tinted the color of flames. "It was Aki's after all. Key word being was there."

Ran glared at the orc and then jumped over him, landing directly behind him to strike with her staff. "This is revenge for Aki, scum!" she shouted, striking the orc hard.

The hit landed precisely as she wished, doing more damage than she normally could have and spurring a reaction from her enemy as well.

"You ninja brat!" the orc roared, spinning around to face his female opponent. Shito took this chance to stand up again, though, and punched the orc into the air with an uppercut. Before the orc could figure out what was going on, Shito jumped up after him and began a furious combo of fists and feet. He punched the orc back down and his sister finished him off with a fire spell she had picked up from Nagi. Watching the fire burn, the two carefully removed the feather from the enemy and turned to walk back to the group.

"Shito! Ran! Good you're okay!" Adell shouted when they came into the light provided by a fire Nagi made with a few roots. Nagi smiled at them and nodded.

"Welcome back, did you take out the boss?"

"Of course! We would not come back defeated!" Ran stated, standing proud.

"Say that after our injuries are treated, Ran. Miriam, can I get a heal here?" Shito replied, limping over to sit next to the priest. Miriam laughed and began to cast a spell, the healing surrounding the entire group.

"Keep this up and I won't have any more energy before we get to the Overlord. But I'll certainly be the best healer in all of Veldime."

"Will be? You already are," Shito said in awe as he stood up, fully healed.

"If you say so," Miriam replied. She pulled out a bottle of Egg Yolk and downing it in one gulp.

"Uh, Miriam? You shouldn't drink so fast! You might get sick!" Nagi called.

"I need to keep up with you guys," Miriam replied, smiling at Nagi.

After an hour of resting, Adell stood up. "We should get going. We're only a little bit of the way through and Taro's waiting for us at the end!"

"And Kuno," Zarame added, sighing.

"Right, and Kuno!" Adell cheered.

~*~

(R and R please. Up next: Cave of Evil's end. Who's Aki? And what does Zane know that he's not saying?)


	4. Chapter 4: Allies or Not

From the Side

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Disgaea 2 or any of the characters in it

A/N: First time that I'm skipping some parts in the game, I will admit to that. It's not much, and while it may have been important to the game I personally do not find it important to our main characters. Thanks to those who reviewed (all of 1 again! I know I have more readers out there!) and thanks to gamefaqs for helping me out with the stuff I forgot.

Also, I apologize for any typos involving the letter 'n' because my n on the keyboard only works some of the time. Unless I catch it, the letter will end up just dropped.

~*~

After a brief encounter with a strange demon who appeared as neither an ally nor a foe and an encounter where the Dark Hero attempted to prove useful until he realized the enemies were standing on "invincibility" geos. That made Waffle and Zane go off to herd the enemies off of the squares. Silently, Zarame wondered why they didn't just run past the enemies, but if the others wanted blood he wasn't going to say no. So with that slowly won fight, they found themselves traveling through the dark cave on what seemed to be roots.

"Trees grow down here?" Nagi stated with obvious interest in the strage environment.

"Maybe Veldime trees do," Miriam muttered, sharing the same enthusiasm.

"No, Veldime trees are just as normal as everything else," Adell noted defiantly. He crossed his arms and turned so that for a brief moment his red hair was no longer over his ears. Waffle turned in surprise at what she saw: pointed ears of a demon. Adell continued, not noticing Waffle's reaction. "It's Zenon's curse that's making these trees grow in weird places I bet."

"That doesn't even make sense," Zarame muttered. "Yeah, the curse affects the people who live there and the environment, but as far as I recall it just turns them into what every other Overworld is like. And there are no underground trees where I come from."

"So it's a Veldime specialty!" Nagi cheered, cutting off part of a root.

"Careful," Zane stated as the root that Nagi cut off went to attack the Skull.

"Eep!" Nagi called, dropping the detached plant like a hot potato. He turned to Zane, glasses crooked from the sudden reaction. "Did you know that was going to happen?" The ninja shrugged in response.

Waffle, having failed to find an opening in the conversation, mumbled to herself and followed back with Fenrir. The whole place was also a bit lighter, though no one seemed to notice for whatever reason. Maybe their eyes were just adjusting. Whatever the case, the thief was starting to panic. She felt like eyes were watching her and then there was the moving roots.

"So Zane, how'd you know that the roots would attack?" Nagi asked, persisting to annoy the sword wielding ninja. Steel gray eyes glared at Nagi's yellow ones. It was the first major expression change that had ever happened to him. The skull backed up and bumped into a large root that seemed to groan behind him. Despite that, it seemed less scary than Zane.

"These roots are all attached to one very old tree. On some other planets there are similar trees that are called Yggdrasil or other sorts of names and believed to hold magic skills, both good and bad. This one's not like that other than as it became part of an Overworld it probably came with its own way of defending itself from its increasingly hostile neighbors." Zane sighed, rubbing his head and going back to his neutral gaze. "Of course, there are other worlds with a similar creation. Ran and Shito have probably seen one themselves." He began to walk away, successfully diverting Nagi's attention to the siblings, who were also becoming a mystery.

"Hey, Ran? Shito? Have you seen any other large trees?" Nagi asked, eyes shining with curiosity.

Shito and Ran both gave wide-eyed gazes at Zane's back. How'd he know? Ran was the first to turn her gaze, shrugging bitterly at the excited spell caster. "I suppose, but I don't know much about it. Our mother just watched over the tree and treasured it."

"I see," Nagi muttered, obviously disappointed. "I'll have to investigate this tree more then."

"I can see it now," Brandon stated, nudging Zarame as he spoke. "Nagi, the great Star Skull, dies from tree, and I don't mean a Flora or a Wood Golem."

The yellow spell caster spun around from the tree to glare at the gunner. "Ha ha, Brandon. You know, you too can be replaced with an inanimate object." However, he did stop trying to take a sample from the tree.

"Yeah, but then it wouldn't be as much fun," Brandon replied, shrugging.

"And we'd be down a fighter," Zarame stated. He hesitated afterwards. "Which means more kills for us. Maybe we should replace him."

"Hey! What kind of friend are you?"

"The kind that is at least not suggesting that we off you for our own kill score? Count your blessings." The samurai was grinning while saying this, though, showing at the very least he didn't mean it. Still, Brandon hit Zarame on the head playfully, resulting in a powerful punch in the stomach in return. As the gunslinger fell on the floor out of breath, Zarame held back the smile, raising an eyebrow.

"J… jerk," Brandon gasped.

"And proud of it. Come on, let's go."

~*~

"Here, drink this," Kuno mumbled, having run out of what little items she had already and being forced to hand Taro a handful of water from a nearby stream. Most of it soaked into her fur, but she insisted that Taro take what he could since he couldn't move down to the water himself. If only she hadn't broken her bottle trying to cut off the root.

"Thanks, Miss Kuno," Taro said as Kuno pulled her hand away. "You know, you're pretty nice for a demon."

"Same to you, Taro," Kuno stated, smiling. She pulled on a ribbon, letting her pink hair drift down to her shoulders. "And it's not so much kindness as it is instinct. Where I'm from, my tribe, we were taught to respect your fellow tribesmen. No one else, but right now I consider you guys my tribe."

"Why'd you leave your tribe?"

"I just felt it was time," Kuno replied, shrugging. She began to braid her hair instead, hoping it'd stay up longer this way. It wasn't that she didn't like it down, it was just a lot easier to fight without pink strands whipping her face every few seconds. However, a braid was hard to do with one hand, so she sat with her legs holding her hair straight while her one good hand twisted it. "Anyway, I hope the others get here soon. I can hear howling."

~*~

"No, a guy named Adell, not Dylan," a white dragon growled at Friday, the warp agent.

Friday shrugged in response, her bouncy blonde hair shaking from hidden laughter. She dusted her green dress and put on her best professional smile. She liked Adell, and these guys looked dangerous. Why put the boy in any unnecessary danger? "Sorry, Sir Eclipse."

Maybe the guy she sent them to was a hint. A male fighter, beaten half to death, sat against Bridgette, who was healing him. The person who had hurt him stood just behind and to the side of Eclipse, standing as if he meant to attract no attention. The power radiating off of him, to say nothing of the aura that made him practically glow, called all eyes to him. Except Eclipse, the white dragon, and Friday, who were glaring at each other. Still, Friday was forced to nervously look at the man every chance she got.

He had spiky, long gray hair, a very muscular body and an array of weapons behind him. Everything but a staff and gun was littered around him and it was obvious he had use of it, though he favored the axe strapped to his back. However even with the appearance of a walking armory, hair included among the weaponry, and a gray aura that smelled of death and blood, nothing quite got to her like the pitch black skin and completely white eyes, a contrast that seemed to force her to shake in fear.

"I don't know who you're talking about then," Friday stated after sucking in a shaky breath. "He must use another Warp Agent. Besides, what does your Lord want with him?"

"He's looking for someone in his group," the scary man stated, now leaning on poor Dylan. When did he get back to Bridgette?

The white dragon continued his statement. "We're not after the brat himself, just a mercenary he hired. They… owe us money. Bought a dragon a few weeks back and only paid half so we're calling in for the rest," Eclipse explained.

"I forgot that you guys sell dragons," Friday muttered. She beamed though. "You should've said that in the beginning then. Adell went to the Dallas River, but I think I saw him jumping into the Cave of Evil on the new recently. You know, with that shark?"

"Thanks," Eclipse growled. He hated liars. His partner straightened.

"I'll send my troops."

~*~

The three ninjas somehow eventually ended in the back, and the moment Ran felt no one was looking, she grabbed Zane by his collar and pinned him against the wall. "Okay, what do you know?" she stated, her voice not at all intimidating. Just… curious.

Zane sighed, sending a steel gray glance at the party walking away, oblivious to the three left behind. If he didn't answer quickly he'd lose them completely. "I worked for Aki for a bit. I remember her having a small orphanage and bringing in a few kids she would train. She was an odd one for a ninja, and even odder for an Overlord. Kind, tough, and willing to give us holidays any time we asked so long as we gave her a long enough heads up. I had left her group about three years before she got attacked, though. My master called me back." Zane shrugged.

Ran still held him up, but it was Shito who asked his own question. "How old are you? I thought you were our age."

"Demons age differently," Zane stated, wondering why he had to explain this to demons themselves. "I'm probably 500 years old or so. My master is even older, or rather was." Zane scratched his head and looked at Ran's purple eyes. "May I go now or else we'll lose the others."

"Oh, uh, right." Ran blinked slowly. She obviously hadn't expected a straight answer. As she lowered Zane to the ground, the ninja nodded at her.

"Aki was a good woman, even with her oddities. I'm sorry for your loss, and I'm sorry I wasn't there to help," Zane stated, eyes lowered so they couldn't see his expression. A few moments of silence trudged by before Zane turned to catch up with Adell and the others again.

As they approached, Fenrir instantly ran to Zane's side. The older ninja knelt next to his loyal companion and stared ahead. It wasn't too far ahead of them that they saw what they had been searching for. Taro sat next to Kuno, both seeming to have a pleasant chat.

Rozalin and Zarame both muttered under their breath the same words. "I was worried about them and here they are sitting having a wonderful time."

"Taro!" Adell called, stepping forward so that he could see them better. "Taro, it's alright now, you're safe! Kuno, hold on just a bit more and we'll be over there!"

The Nekomata stood up. "Okay, I can handle whatever comes for now, but we'll both need a good heal when you get over."

Rozalin leaned forward, her gaze seeming to lock on the female across the path. Tink floated next to her, his blue contrasting with her dress as he sat on her shoulder. "What iz wrong, Rozalin? Iz zere something you aren't telling me, your childhood friend?"

"Her arm, Tink. Doesn't it look like it's hurt?"

"Well that would explain why she needed healing," Zarame mumbled, walking towards the two on the other side now. He stopped only a little of the way across, though, as a roar was heard.

"Is that what the woman was talking about?" Hanako asked, showing the first sign of concern for her brother.

Kuno's hairs stood on end as she glanced around, her eyes eventually stopping on the right path beyond them. Taro had the same frightened gaze going the other direction. Zarame grabbed his sword and pulled it out without seeing what was around either corner. If it could make Kuno that scared then it must be dangerous, besides they had the warning from the female demon in the mask, whatever that was worth.

The warning was proven true after a few more roars and two monsters came stomping out. Guns were strapped to one arm and they towered over the entire group. Intimidating, powerful, deadly were too weak of words to describe them. They seemed unnatural to the area.

"The flute!" Adell called, spinning around to the others. "We need the flute!"

Zarame relaxed slightly, believing that all would be alright. A familiar argument started, though, and ruined all hope. No one knew how to play the flute. Zarame threw down the sword he held and spun around to glare at the others. "Are you saying you're just going to leave them to die because you can't play a silly instrument?" he barked.

"Never!" Adell responded, putting up his fists. "I'll save Taro even if it means I have to beat them up myself. That's more my style anyway."

Rozalin tossed the flute behind her. "He's right, besides I can't lose my servant either." The others began to talk amongst themselves, all agreeing that they'd at least try to kill the two beasts before surrendering their friends. "Only problem now is we have to get there first."

"Let us handle it," Brandon stated, gesturing to Waffle, Aerin, himself, and, in a grand gesture, Rozalin. "If we can move fast enough, we can get in range and distract them."

"If we can hurt them enough," Aerin growled, but she didn't protest the idea entirely.

"Okay, let's go!" Waffle shouted, raising a fist in the air. "And once they look at us, let's flee behind the ranks! Go Team! I better get extra for this!"

"Yes let's-- wait, do you hear that?" Adell asked, looking around.

"Hear what?" Rozalin also began to look around before she realized what Adell heard. "It's a flute? Who's playing a flute?"

"Ah ha! Axel, the Dark Hero, returns to the scene to find the princess in distress! He will save her and then receive that reward from her heart and her father's riches! You better get this on film Director!" All eyes turned up to see the man in the white cloak holding a flute.

"You can play that silly thing?" Hanako asked, giving Axel an annoyed stare.

"There is little the Dark Hero can't do, little miss. Now, come with me monsters!" And with that Axel left, the music guiding the two behemoths away with him.

Silence surrounded the others for a few moments. "Well, that was interesting," Rozalin said.

"Who would've thought Axel would be useful twice?" Adell added, nodding.

"I'm not sure if that was twice," Hanako suggested, shrugging.

"No, it was twice, but don't think you owe him anything. It's his fault we're in this predicament," Zarame responded, spinning around to face Kuno and Taro. No over powered creatures lurked there, but instead there was several other monsters: a few orcs, flora beasts, and hell hounds. "Well, Fenrir, see anybody we could use to play fetch?"

Fenrir responded with a glare, flicking his tail as he bounded ahead to fight. Zane followed, both immediately meeting the two hell hounds. Claws hit each other while a sword kept a mouth at bay. Wind picked up from all four fighters, but that didn't stop the three orcs from charging past them.

Ran and Shito jumped ahead for this, Shito letting out a roar and a blast that hit all three as Ran forced them to one position. Spinning her staff, the female ninja ran straight up to one , smacking the helmet down to knock him out. Shito tricked another orc with a quick log replacement, punching his back so that he fell hard onto the ground, but in turn leaving his side free to be hit. The other orc went to strike, only stopping as an arrow pierced his hand. As the orc turned to face the attacker, both Aerin and Waffle let loose a volley of arrows into the poor beast.

Nagi was left with a flora beast, one that was easily conquered by a blaze set on it, however the fire pinned him down which left Brandon and Rozalin to take out the remaining beast, an easy accomplishment with six shots in just a few seconds. As the flower fell, the two gunners gave each other a nod.

Zarame, Adell, and Miriam watched as the two dogs were the last to be finished off, Zane and Fenrir taking out their partner's target rather than their own. The red head brushed his hair back and gave Miriam a grin. "I think we've got this whole teamwork thing down, what do you say?"

The samurai jumped, turning wide eyes at Adell. It'd only been a few days, maybe a week, since they joined up, but even Zarame had a few moments where he truly felt a part of the team. This idea scared him. He picked up his fallen blade and held it against the human's throat before he could block it. "Don't you dare say that again. Demons work alone, got it Mr. Chivalry?"

"Za… ra…me…" Adell whispered, fury and a hint at a challenge sparking in his eyes. Fury dominated his gaze.

~*~

"Well at least they came back unharmed," Eclipse noted, a smile forming on his face at the annoyed expression his companion had and the confused ones the Rifle Demons had. He folded his wings and laid his head on his paws as the axe-wielding man kicked a chair up and slumped down on it.

"Not the point," he mumbled. "They should've come back with him or not come back at all, though I will admit I'd hate to lose such good companions. The Overlord will not be pleased."

"Don't tell him. We can wait a few moments before we launch another attack, though whether or not we succeed we will have to report that time," the white dragon stated.

"He's going to go crazy if he doesn't get his brother back."

"I know, I know. Let's try to prevent that, shall we?"

"Then you call your white dragon allies and I'll get my team. Let's plan for when we can attack next."

"Let's go back to the base for now then," Eclipse replied, standing.

"Right, come on Snipe, Tarj," the man stated, gesturing to the baffled beasts. They left, exiting the house of a zombie who lived in the town.

~*~

The others had freed Kuno and Hanako was about to make a wise crack at about "how could Tardo get himself into such trouble," when they heard the crack of a bone breaking. Everyone quickly ran, seeing Adell and Zarame together and Miriam trying to pull them apart.

"Zarame!" Kuno yelped as she ran up, seeing Zarame's arm bent backwards.

"Calm down you two!" Miriam shouted. "I need to heal everyone, do make it more of a job for me."

"Oh just leave him for the Dark Hospital when we get back!" Adell shouted. He turned to Kuno and Brandon who had on a worried expression for their swordsman. Turning a glare back to Zarame he hissed "Is that truly what you think of the people who are that worried about you?" He gestured at the two again and Zarame looked before spinning away quickly.

"Leave me alone, I'll get tended at the hospital, like our boss wishes." He began to walk back towards the entrance.

"Zarame!" Rozalin called, running after the black haired man.

"Ugh, he ruined our happy ending," Hanako mumbled.

"Tink, follow them and help Rozalin out. Miriam, tend to Kuno's wounds. Everyone else can tough it out of the dungeon without much of a problem," Zane stated, proving to be the only level headed one at the moment. Aerin was shouting a stream of curses while Waffle was laughing. Fenrir was calmly sitting at his feet, but was obviously unable to communicate his ideas.

Somehow, Zarame succeeded in making the return worse than the trip down.

~*~

Pleeaaassseeee Read and review? Please?

Next Chapter: A break in Veldime, a crush on two people, and Miriam goes over some plans.


	5. Chapter 5: A Break

From the Side

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

A/N: Yes, it hasn't even been a week and I'm updating. Mirables do happen. My goal is to get a chapter up a week. Taking advice from a reviewer so you'll see less of a lot of characters except during the scenes I find important. I apologize to all those who liked them, don't worry they aren't gone permanently! I just have main characters I need to concentrate on. Thanks again to reviewers! (Special thanks to Chargone again!)

~*~

The blonde healer sat next to Zarame, fixing his arm so that it at least looked remotely normal. "What happened?" she asked nonchalantly while bandaging and then casting a healing spell.

"I got punched by my boss. Don't be surprised if I get sent back after this," the samurai responded, sighing. "How is it?"

"It's fine, I've seen worse happen to a poor fighter named Dylan today," the healer responded. She stood up and stepped away, showing that he's done. "Okay, now go on and get back into battle. I'll log your points in the registry." Zarame nodded and began to walk away. "Oh, and I will see you again. Adell's not the type to hold grudges, so make peace with him. Alright?" She received no response.

Still bandaged, the black haired male entered Adell's house, seeing the circle with the sibling ninjas as a center piece. Zane wasn't exactly in the group, standing just in front of all the others. Zarame glanced around to find Brandon and immediately moved next to him when he did.

"Glad you could join us, Zarame. How's your arm?" Brandon asked, staring at the bandages.

"It's fine, the bandages are mostly for show. What's going on here?"

"Our thief wanted Ran and Shito's token that they took from the orc. Some fight started and then Zane decided to step in. Waffle will leave them alone provided that they give a good enough explanation. You may want to cover your ears, it's probably going to get sappy here."

"Ran and I were orphaned as little kids," Shito began, his eyes locked on the ground. "And we were adopted by a lady named Aki. She raised us to be a ninja and--."

"Aki?" Zarame asked, an eyebrow raising as he recognized the name.

Adell, noticing the samurai was in the room, turned to him. "Do you know her?"

"No, I don't think so," Zarame replied, shaking his head. "The Aki I knew wasn't a ninja. She was more like… well more like Miriam. Sorry to interrupt." The last sentence was just tossed out, he didn't really care.

"Okay, continue," Waffle said, tossing the feather in her hand.

"Aki was the Overlord of our world, which allowed her to come into a lot of money. We weren't the first orphans she took in, there was a lot. Everyone thought it was odd to have such a kind Overlord as our ruler, but when it came to fighting there was no equal," Shito added.

Ran nodded. "She taught us all how to fight, not so we'd become her little minions or loyal vassals but so that we could defend ourselves and the others if something ever happened to her. She knew there were others who didn't like her."

"However, she also had a lot of allies. Or so we thought. Two of her closest allies were Overlord Orican, the leader of the orcs, and Overlord Kazuhiko, a dragon leader though I don't believe he's a dragon himself. Ran and I were wandering around when we caught two of their servants talking. I don't know what they were saying but they agreed on something and departed. The next day Aki was attacked…" Shito clenched his fists and failed to continue. His sister took it up again.

"Aki first realized something was wrong when she noticed the temperature was up. Two guards had already been killed and Aki forced the rest to get us out. Five of us were a tad bit slower, including Ran and I, but that saved our lives. They knew we'd try to escape. By the time we arrived at the tunnel, they were all dead." Even Ran was shaking, now. "We ran back just in time to see Aki fighting Orican. She would have won, but both of them spotted us as well as Orican's warriors. The three that were with us were killed before Aki managed to come to our aid. She fled, carrying us out… however they had managed to get one good shot on her while she was leaving. She survived for only a week afterwards and we were forced to abandon her without giving her a proper burial."

"We cared for her and we vowed revenge," Shito mumbled. "That Token belonged to her, and that's why we want it. It's not yours."

"Well it's not yours either," Waffle whined.

"Give it back to them, Waffle," Adell growled. The thief looked at her boss with pleading eyes before Adell's fierce gaze overpowered her. She sighed and handed it over to Ran, who took it back with a big smile on her face. "See? Not so hard, now let's go and get new equipment. The Arms Dealer said they have a new bow in."

Zarame's face was getting darker during the conversation. He stood there, staring at where the two ninjas had been as if in shock. His gaze, however, was anger, confusion, and sorrow all mixed into one. Slowly, he inched forward, only stopping when Kuno grabbed his arm. He turned sharply and found himself glaring at her concerned blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" the Nekomata asked, the hand trembling on his arm. "Did something in their story worry you?"

The samurai hesitated, thinking over all they said. It wasn't just one thing that worried him, but there was one thing in particular. A small part of him didn't want Kuno to hate him though, and to tell her what happened would do just that. Instead he shook his head and forced a smile. "I just keep putting my Aki in place of theirs. I'd just hate to imagine her dead."

Kuno nodded, lowering her head. She dropped her grip on his arm and then hugged him. The action surprised Zarame, but he didn't fight the embrace, that same nagging feeling about not wanting Kuno to hate him. Instead, he simply said "I think the other two need this a bit more."

Kuno shook her head, moving his clothes since it was buried in them. "I can tell, you're hurt too. Maybe not by the same thing, but you are hurt. And no one else will comfort you right now." She sniffed as if she was crying.

"You're too kind for a demon," he added, pushing her away. The cat girl shrugged and gave him a grin.

"Someone has to be. Besides, take it from me in saying that being sad by yourself is a bad thing. Now come on, once we get shopping done we should get you and Adell to make up."

"Why does everyone think we need to say sorry?"

Kuno spun around, that same grin splitting her face so that it seemed to glow. "I never said say sorry. Make up the same way two fighter make up. Like how you do with your friends, I'm sure."

Zarame smiled again, this time for real. "Okay, we'll see what we can work out." He walked away to join the others. Kuno stayed behind for a few moments, waiting until her face wasn't that red.

She tilted her head, ears twitching as she gazed at the door Zarame left open. "He's cute when he smiles," she stated before trotting out.

Once _she_ was out of hearing range, a certain pink haired kid stuck her head out of her room, grinning mischievously. "I heard that!"

~*~

By the time Zarame arrived at the market everyone was already equipping themselves with their new gear. Rozalin walked right up to him carrying a large black sword. Shoving it out to him, she sighed. "Here, your new weapon. We've also got you a cloak but Tink is getting that so you may have to wait until he's done flirting with the item store keeper. But can you believe this? Adell is making me work like a messenger girl! Sometimes I don't know what goes through that guy's mind. Does he even really acknowledge whose daughter I am?"

"I'm sure he does, but you have to remember that he doesn't hold Zenon in the highest esteem," Zarame noted, taking the sword from her. "At the very least he doesn't consider you an enemy."

"Such a fool," Rozalin muttered, turning so she could see the back of the guy in question.

"That may be so, but I have to hope that that is what will keep me in this group," Zarame responded, shrugging.

The princess looked at him with honest curiosity. "You've become attached?"

"Wrong, the longer a mercenary stays with a group the higher the rank they get. We've got a lot of rules and regulations, and my goal is to reach the top rank so I abide by them. One of them is to not get attached," the samurai replied. "Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to seem friendly. Something I'll have to work on."

Rozalin laughed. "That you will! The stunt you pulled back there was hardly friendly by any means!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one doing the damage! Adell broke my arm!"

"Yes, but Adell is hardly the type to get angry for no reason."

"I'd argue that point."

Before either could make another comment, a red frog floated up to the group. "Oh ho! I am zorry my lady but I will have to miss ze meeting this afternoon! I have a date with a certain mage, oh ho ho." He pulled out a cloak and tossed it onto Zarame, the cloth draping over him so that he appeared as a cliché sheet ghost. "Zere iz your cloak, now I must be off!" With that he began to fly away.

"Want me to say it?" Zarame asked, having learned a trick not too long after he joined the group.

"Feel free," Rozalin replied.

"Draak-Tink-Mahalaak!" The words were a little ridiculous coming out of his mouth, but nothing beat the satisfaction of staring at the confused look on the now-blue frog's face as Rozy and Zarame made their way outside of Veldime. "Meet us when you're ready Tink, we'll be outside."

By the time they got there Miriam was finishing drawing up the plans. "With that said, we need to find Zenon before the curse gets any worse. I believe it'll be a month before Veldime permanently becomes a Netherworld."

"So we don't have much time. We have to find him, but how?" Adell grumbled.

"Why not have Rozalin plead for her daddy?" Hanako suggested. "Like 'Oh Daddy! I miss you! Come here!' on T.V.!"

"I refuse to grovel like that! It is below a princess," Rozalin responded, crossing her arms.

"How good of you to join us," Aerin muttered, looking at both of the two who just arrived. Kuno had obviously arrived before them because there was only two allies missing now. "Where's Tink?"

"Maybe he's sleeping?" Hanako suggested. "He is a frog."

Zarame glanced around the group, seeing the ghost of their party sitting in the background. However, outside of Tink they were missing another monster. "Eclipse?"

"He quit," Adell noted. "Apparently he got a better offer." And with a surprisingly guilty look, he added, "how's your arm?"

"It's fine. So, we're after Zenon directly now?"

"Yes, but I don't know how to get to him." The human sighed, completely unsure of what to do now.

Miriam cleared her throat. "Well, I was going to say that I know a building where we may--"

"Excuse me, zam."

All eyes turned to the new speaker. It was a young girl, a demon if her pointy ears and naturally strong physique had any say in the matter. Her eyes were ice blue and her outfit had a matching blue along with white and a little bit of red. She carried a sword at her side, though it was doubtful she could use it well. However, she held herself with such pride that everyone knew she probably had more skill than her natural look led on.

"Who are you?" Adell asked, honestly surprised. No one had seen her arrive, except Zane who shrugged in the corner as neutral as ever.

"My name is Yukimaru, zam. I was just wondering if you would know where I could find the coliseum, zam. It is very important that I participate in the upcoming battle, zam," the girl stated, bowing as she spoke.

"Coliseum?" Miriam asked. "That would be the Gate [GZ256]."

"Thank you, zam." And she left quickly with that. It wasn't until afterwards that anyone realized that Yukimaru hadn't made a sound outside of speaking. Talented indeed.

"So, how do we get to Zenon?" Adell repeated for the nth time.

"We go to Gate [GZ256]," Miriam replied, and though she sounded calm, she was glaring daggers at her boss. "Which is what I've been trying to say for a long time."

"The Coliseum? How would that help?"

"They winner of the coliseum gets to meet Overlord Zenon." The healer was pulling out her staff, dusting off the prinny at the end of it. "If we can join and win then not only do we get a prize but we'll be able to get Rozalin back to her dad and then have you take him on. We best be prepared, but it helps that they set up an Assembly and many shops in the Coliseum apparently. The only problem is that…"

"We want to take a break, sir," Ran cut in. Shito nodded at her side. "We found a clue that may lead us to Aki's murderer and we wish to take it. As soon as we find the end of that we will return, whether it's a hit or miss. Is that alright?"

"The token?" Adell asked. The brother and sister nodded. "Okay, I'm not going to say no for something like that. It wouldn't be fair. Go on, we can handle things by ourselves."

"Thanks. Zarame's right, you're truly chivalrous. Give Zenon an extra hit for me," Ran stated, pulling her brother off. "We'll be on the planet Arborian if you need us!"

So the party waved the ninja siblings off and then quickly returned to the warper in order to head to what they truly believed would be their final trip. They would meet Zenon once and for all. The samurai stare for a few moments at Rozalin and the looked at Kuno. To him, neither seemed prepared and a part of him that had begun to show itself more wanted to push them away so that they wouldn't get hurt. He wouldn't admit it, but Adell was the one who made him want to protect them. Fighting the urge he turned to Brandon. "Too bad Eclipse left, I'm sure he would've stayed had he known it would be such a short mission."

Brandon shrugged. "Killing the Overlord of a planet isn't for everyone."

~*~

"Lord Kazuhiko," a white dragon said, bowing his head before his overlord's throne. The man with his own personal armory stood before the dragon instead.

"He's out at the moment," the guy growled. "What do you need?"

"Oh, sir Spectre. Eclipse has just reported that Adell returned to Veldime but quickly left again after restocking. We believe they're headed towards the coliseum."

"Really, that's interesting. I'll bring it up with Kazuhiko." The man turned around, a grin forming on his face. Coliseum meant battles. If he joined then he could get their target without any difficulty or questioning. No, he couldn't enter directly otherwise the other party would get suspicious. He'd hire a group to take care of them, one that hated demons or would willingly capture one at the very least. "Tarj!" he hollered, his rifle demon stomping in front of him. "Go get a group of people who we can pay off to capture a demon for us. If this succeeds I promise to give you a raise."

The Baciel trudged off, leaving his boss to laugh to himself, his plot unfolding for his overlord.

~*~

A/N: *begs for reviews* Next Chapter: Brandon gets a pleasant surprise, but the coliseum takes its toll on one member.


	6. Chapter 6: Mr Undefeatedable and a Team

From the Side

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Disgaea 2

A/N: I APOLOGIZE A LOT FOR NOT UPDATING WHEN I PROMISED. And worse, taking over a month to do so. My laptop's keyboard fully broke (no 'n' key and a few other keys are being difficult) and the other computer I use apparently doesn't have any writing program outside of Notepad. Even now, I'm using someone else's laptop. Still, hopefully this'll work and if need be I'll hike my butt down to the library.

A promise: Next week (not this one due to an event I'm going to) I am going to attempt to catch up to where I should be. Meaning there will be 5 updates next week, starting on Monday ending on Friday. Once a day in other words. Keep an eye out!

~*~

Zarame found himself sitting on a wooden desk where a couple of monsters were chatting away. He wasn't interested in their talk, though they kept sending suspicious glances at him as if he was spying. No, he was here because Adell requested that he stay with Brandon to avoid any "unfair advantages" the other competitors might try to create. The gunner was surrounded by Prinnies, his excitement unconstrained and their annoyance barely hidden.

"So Etna really throws you guys to make you explode?" Brandon asked, eyes glittering.

One Prinny sighed. "Dood, she doesn't need to throw us. She just stabs us and kills us off. I think she thinks there's an unlimited supply of us, dood."

"Amazing!" Brandon cheered. "Beauty Queen Etna really is as good as Demon Lords get!"

The samurai sighed and leaned back, blocking out the rest of the conversation. If any fights were going to start preemptively, Brandon and the Prinnies would be in the center of it. Best friend or no, Zarame didn't want to have to defend someone from their own stupidity.

At that moment, Aerin stormed up. She glared at Zarame. "Do something about that." Zarame shook his head, closing his eyes and getting comfortable. Aerin stomped her foot like a child who was just refused the candy they wanted. No response. She grabbed onto the samurai's collar and pulled him forward. This time calm, red eyes opened to stare at the archer. "Do. Something. About. That," she repeated.

"Why? What's the harm? He's a lot more manageable than the drooling mess he was when the Demon Lord was actually here. Let him have his fun, we may learn something about a possible enemy anyway. Or, if you're really jealous, you can attempt to break him away, but that will be your doing. I'm just here to watch," Zarame mumbled.

"You're a jerk, you know that?" Aerin growled.

"Haven't I always been?"

"Yeah, but I was just beginning to tolerate you." The archer sighed and walked towards Brandon. She tapped him on the shoulder and quickly began an argument that Zarame chose to walk away from.

Free at last to roam, he explored the preparing area they were in. Groups of enemies were placed all over. A few that Zarame recognized as villagers from Adell's home, such as the puppet or the plant guy/girl. There was also a fellow ronin, sitting by himself in a corner, glaring at all who passed. A gunner and a ninja were chatting together, arguing about which was better for battle. Eventually, a strange man with white hair also walked up, his arms bound by chains. He threw in an argument that fists were far more advantageous, or rather anything that took the enemy out in one blow. This made Zarame grin. He couldn't help but agree.

"Armanda, who's side are you on?" the gunner barked at the chained man.

"I have no reason to side with you when I think you're wrong. Just because we're on the same team doesn't mean we're buddies." Obviously unwelcome, the white haired man stormed off.

Precisely how Zarame felt, though even now he wasn't sure if he'd be able to say that directly to Adell's face. After all, Adell did accept him back into the group even after his stupid stunt. "Er... it wasn't my fault," Zarame mumbled to himself. "But considering how much he was offended, I do have to appreciate him accepting me back."

"If you have the time to mumble to yourself, then move out of the way for to-be-champions of the coliseum!" a man with a thick accent hissed from behind the samurai. Zarame hesitated and then looked around.

"No one's in my way," he stated, loud enough so that the person behind him could clearly hear him. "There's no need to push aside people who aren't in the way." He cupped a fist in a hand with a face of mock realization. "Oh, you think _you're_ the champion! I get it." He spun around, a glare instantly locking onto the man behind him. "Sorry, I don't move aside for people who are hallucinating."

It was a man in a yellow robe similar to his. A ronin by appearance, an idiot underneath. He had two female fighters, two rogues, a healer, a mage girl, and a skull. His eyes locked onto the skull, sitting far in the back. "A man with a harem and a young boy. Hardly what I find victorious."

"That is where appearances are deceiving!" the lead man stated, oblivious to the insult Zarame had thrown. "We are the Invincible Squad! Our equipments are invincible! I am Undefeatedable, the leader of this group."

"Your equipment may be strong, but in the hands of a weakling, those who know what they're doing will win. You stand no chance. I bet you won't even make it passed the first round." Zarame walked away before Undefeatedable could retort with something even half-witty.

Or so he thought. Suddenly, one of the rogues jumped up behind him, giggling insanely as she laid a trap and forced him to stay where he was. Undefeatedable stormed right up to the samurai and punched him, proving that at least he had the force to do damage. Zarame moved a hand to where he hit instinctively, feeling the bruise already forming.

The enemy went in for a second attack but a green figure moved between them, a bow aiming at his face. "Stand down and save it for the arena, fools, or I'll steal those pants off of ya and cause ya more embarrassment than ya caused my buddy here with a move like that."

"Waffle," Zarame said through half a mouth.

The girl in front of him tilted her head to the side and grinned. "On the other side, I might be tempted ta take the pants anyway. They're shiny."

"Oh wow, they are," came another person's response, making everyone spin around to where Aerin and Brandon stood. Brandon smirked and continued. "In fact he's entirely shiny, maybe we should strip him of his equipment entirely. It could fetch a nice price on the black market, I'm sure."

Waffle's eyes glittered. "True, and it'd only be right after the stunt ya just pulled. What do ya say Mr. Undefeatedable?"

"Oh, his opinion doesn't matter," Aerin added, leaning against Brandon. "After all, I'm sure he can't even comprehend half of what we're saying."

"My sentiments exactly," Brandon and Zarame stated at the same time, making eye contact afterwards and laughing. Waffle even giggled as Undefeatedable began shaking in rage.

"You guys are dead!" he shouted and stormed off.

"Well at least he left without doing anything else," Zarame muttered. Waffle put her bow down and shrugged.

"I hope we don't fight 'em," she yawned.

"Why?"

"I don't wanna go easy on anyone."

The two guys laughed again. Aerin shrugged. "I don't know. I like seeing women in this fight, but set up like that it really angers me."

"Like they're nothing but lackeys to the idiot?" Zarame asked.

"Precisely."

"Well, let's hurry and rendezvous with the others," Waffle added. "I was actually sent out ta get ya all here."

~*~

Mouth healed and equipment readied, the group heard their team be called and headed towards the arena. The arena was brightly lit with hundreds of people in the audience section, which was probably small considering the normal amount of people at events like this. Well, that was what happened with an only recently famous place such as Veldime.

A surprise came when the MC stood in the center, a big familiar grin on his face. "Welcome to the Coliseum!" Axel shouted to the audience. "Your great Dark Hero is here to be your MC!"

"I can only take so many idiots," Zarame moaned.

"This is going to be a nightmare," Adell agreed.

"Hey, what's with the frowns crew?"Axel asked, a smirk replacing the casual grin. "Sad to see me again? Have I struck such fear into your hearts?"

"Uh, no, how did you get here?" Adell said.

"I impressed Zenon with my charming good looks and extreme talent."

"Actually, he begged Zenon's publicist to let him on," Axel's director added, the old man sitting off on a corner with a camera-zombie-man.

"Director!"

"I get it now, that totally makes sense," Rozalin noted, nodding as if all questions had been answered.

"Y-you know what? I'm going to make you guys regret having ever crossed my path! You are going to fight now!" Axel shouted.

"That's what we came here for," Adell responded, punching the air.

"Heh, that's what you think. You guys are going to fight The Invincible Squad!"

Zarame, Waffle, Brandon and Aerin stared in shock as the one team they didn't want to fight stepped forward. "The idiot has returned," Aerin sighed.

"Well, now is a good time for vengeance," the samurai agreed. "Adell, I have a request."

"What's that?"

"Let me make up to you by proving that I'm a worthwhile fighter. Let Brandon, Waffle, Aerin, and me go into this battle alone. No help, whatsoever."

"What? That's stupid, you'd be the only close range fighter," Adell rejected.

"This is also a bit of vengeance, Adell. They won't be that tough anyway."

"Please?" Waffle asked, giving her best impression of a begging puppy. Adell and Rozalin both gazed at her for a few moments before the princess caved first.

"It's only one fight, Adell. We can heal them afterwards, right Miriam?" Rozalin stated.

"Yes, we can," Miriam replied.

"Fine," Adell growled, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking back, obviously disliking the arrangement. The four fighters however were very happy, instantly stepping forward.

"So, Mr. Undefeatedable, last time we held back. But this time you understand it's a real battle, right?" Aerin stated, aiming her bow at the man in front. Zarame pulled out his sword, holding it forward, ready to charge at any second. Brandon placed a few bullets in his gun, spun the chamber and also aimed. Waffle sighed.

"Yeah, I'm not going to pose like some super hero, but I do think this guy is going down," the thief stated, leaning backwards at the three who suddenly stopped standing readily. She smirked. "Ya three know each other a tad bit too well."

"Shut up," Zarame mumbled.

"If you're done with your show, then I want my own revenge for what you did before!" Undefeatedable roared.

"Oh, the irony," Brandon mumbled.

The magic words from the MC resounded after that. "Round START!" Instantly, Zarame took several steps forward, his sword clashing with the shiny one that Undefeatedable held. A grin crossed his face as he realized once more that the idiot did have strength behind him, but if he didn't have the skill...

A quickly slide down the sword, while Zarame moved himself to the side, allowed him to dig his blade into Undefeatedable's hand before the fellow swordsman could bring his own weapon into Zarame's exposed shoulder. The sparkling blade dropped from his hand and Zarame quickly kicked it away.

As he disarmed the lead man, one of the lady warriors pulled out a gun and went to shoot him off of her boss. A gunshot was heard, but it wasn't until Zarame saw the blood on the girl's shoulder that he realized Brandon was right behind him, gun smoking. Undefeatedable noticed this as well and kicked Zarame's stomach to create distance.

The other warrior replaced Undefeatedable, a staff already swinging towards Zarame's head. Attempting to dodge allowed the blunt object to hit him right where Undefeatedable had cheap-shotted him earlier. Zarame glared at her for a moment, not allowing himself to move until he heard a quiet "duck" from behind. Obeying the order, he heard rather than saw an arrow strike the staff warrior and send her onto the ground. One hit and she was down for the count. Aerin gave Zarame a thumbs up and loaded another arrow.

The previously injured gun user was now healed, the healer proving that she had been at work as well. Undefeatedable was picking up his sword with his off hand, but he had a few more moments before he was back in the game so Waffle chose to go after someone else. She launched an arrow at one of her fellow thieves, and letting Zarame disable the other that came running up with the flat end of his sword.

Three more shots echoed, this time from the enemy gun wielder and it was soon followed by an ice spell from the female mage. Zarame was hit by both and he hit the ground for a moment before springing back up, diving towards the mage and striking her in the waist with such force that she flew out of the arena.

"Two down," Brandon muttered, a glow forming in front of his gun as he took aim again.

It took only a few minutes to quickly have everyone down besides Undefeatedable, the healer, and the red skull. The former two had proved to be a lot stronger than expected, taking several blows and healing back very little. The skull however had just managed to avoid being hit by always being in the right place at the right time. The few hits he did take, though, had definitely hurt him.

On the other side all four were still standing, though Zarame had taken several blows that left him bruised and bleeding. No one else had taken damage, the samurai determined to defend his pride by keeping all the ranged fighters of his team away from the rest.

Leaning on his sword, Zarame glared daggers at Undefeatedable. His hair had been cut free, leaving black hair that was also singed from fire hanging down below his waist. "Give... it... up..." he stated, breathing heavily from the damage he took. One deep breath allowed him to stand up once more and steady his voice. "You will not win this battle."

"Say... that after you won," Undefeatedable barked back. His right side was completely disabled, leaving him forced to use his off-hand while holding the not-so-shiny weapon. His pants were also missing, leaving him in heart print boxers. When Waffle had taken them was a mystery, but no one could doubt the skill of the thief who was now parading around behind Zarame in the brightest pants anyone had ever seen.

"Zarame, let me get the little one," Brandon muttered.

The two bow users nodded and patted Zarame's shoulders. "We'll get the last girl," Aerin said. Waffle flashed a big smile.

"Leave me with the annoying one, I see how it is."

"Hey, we all have ta make sacrifices," Waffle laughed.

"Far enough." Though he was obviously not really bothered by it. He wouldn't ever say it aloud—and nor would anyone else on his side—but Undefeatedable was definitely a fighter. Zarame made a feint towards Undefeatedable, forcing the man to pull up defensively before he realized Zarame was diving to the side.

Brandon also began running forward, appearing to head to the swordsman before slipping to the side and stepping right in front of the skull. "Dodge this," he called, firing a shot that was so powerful, he slid back a far distance.

Meanwhile, the healer had found herself surrounded by what appeared to be six other girls, two sets of triplets. A short little dance from the ones that looked like Waffle and a haughty wave from the Aerin lookalikes and all six sent an arrow at the healer.

Zarame took Undefeatedable's right side easily, shoving him off balance at the cost of a sword digging into his shoulder. Zarame grabbed his opponent's left arm and bent it with such force that the snap was heard throughout the arena. Then he used the hilt of his blade and jabbed it into his chin. "Good bye Mr. Defeated."

All opponents out, the four victors stood up once more. They turned together to face the blonde haired MC. Axel shook for a few moments and then stood up on his stand. "And it appears we have a winner!" he shouted in a shaky voice.

With the announcement, followed by clapping, the four walked off the stage. Adell and the group were clapping as well. The red haired leader jumped forward. "That was amazing!" he shouted, fire blazing in his eyes that said he was hungry for his own battle. "Such great tea--" Remembering Zarame's last response to teamwork, Adell cut himself short.

The samurai glanced back at the three ranged fighters, unhurt but still tired from all the work. They just defeated a team of twice their members and a much better set up with only one injured. The black haired man gave a shy smile and turned around to Adell. He patted him on the shoulder and shook his head. "We had great teamwork, they're good teammates." After that, he just walked past them. Straight towards Miriam.

~*~

A/N: Read and review please!


	7. Chapter 7: Mysteries of Demons

From the Side

Chapter 7

A/N: The start of the 5-in-one-week update... and the start of my second favorite part of the story. Also, I find the disclaimer pointless at this stage so let's just remember from now on I don't own it.

~*~

A monster in the audience kept his gaze locked on the fight, having been simply amused to watch the two groups tear each other apart. There was one point, though, where a fire caught the smaller team's swordsman's hair and broke it free that caused the monster to focus entirely on him. Whether or not he lost, there was something about the samurai that intrigued him. What was it...

"Overlord Ogrin, what a surprise to see you here?" a soft voice said, causing the monster to turn to the speaker. A Majin and a white dragon, though the white dragon was the one to speak.

"Ah, Demon Lord Spectre, Demon Lord Eclipse, what brings you two here?" the monster grumbled, putting on his best smile though it was still hideous.

"We've had a few teams of our own join with the hopes of taking out a dangerous opponent," Eclipse explained. He looked a little annoyed though.

"You're interested in killing Overlord Zenon?"

"No, someone else."

Spectre kept silent, his gaze following the fighters on the arena. The battle was just about over. As the bell rang to announce the winners, a smile crossed his face that practically said "just as I expected." He was enjoying this far more than Ogrin was.

"There's something about that swordsman down there," Ogrin mumbled, watching the guy walk off. "I didn't notice until his hair came loose but... he reminds me of someone." He looked at Eclipse who suddenly had his own grin on. Then it dawned on him. "Overlord Kazuhiko, the samurai looks like your Overlord." He spun quickly around to look at the man in question again. Yes, that was it. "Is that the young brat from so long ago?"

"Yes, that is Zarame Prince, younger brother to our Lord Kazuhiko Prince," Spectre explained.

~*~

"Hey, Aerin," Zarame called from his seat next to the healer of their party. "you've got two ponytails, mind donating a ribbon? I forgot an extra one and my clip broke too." He had pulled out a brush to make the long, burnt hair at least manageable. Really, he hated ponytails because in the heat of battle he could still feel the loose strands hitting his shoulder, which led to an occasional concern for an opponent behind him. However, it was better than it just hanging loosely, where there was always that feeling.

"Go buy one at the item seller," Aerin growled. "I'm not going to donate mine."

"I'm not going to waste our expenses on that," Zarame murmured, but he dropped the point, apparently too exhausted to argue. Healing fixed the wounds, but it didn't return energy.

Kuno sat beside Zarame, watching the samurai brush his hair free of knots. "I didn't realize how long your hair was while it was up. It rivals mine, in length and beauty." She grinned at Zarame who stared at her wide-eyed for a moment. He turned away from her so she couldn't see his face, but Aerin's smirk told Kuno everything. That and his red ears that were still visible.

"Yeah, well I'd prefer it short," the ronin replied.

"Why? You look so much better with long hair!" Kuno protested.

Before Zarame could answer, Miriam stopped her healing spell for a moment, staring quizzically at her patient. "Why not cut it then? I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find someone to do a decent haircut."

The archer stared at Zarame for a few moments, knowing what his response would be because she had asked this very question once. The samurai finished the brush's stroke and looked back at Miriam. "Pride, I suppose. Having your hair long was sort of a sign of ranking where I was born. For men, the longer the hair you have the more power you hold, but if a man is found trying to grow his hair out to trick people, he's put to death. Women, on the other hand, only show rank with their clothes."

"That's a weird system," Miriam stated. "Who came up with that crazy law?"

"I suppose my parents were just hair and clothes freaks, such things affect others. I thought it was perfectly normal until I left my world as an emissary," Zarame responded.

"Your parents? With long hair you had to be pretty high rank, what were your parents?" Kuno asked, sitting anxiously now as she tried to figure out her companion's past. It was the wrong question to ask, though, because Zarame suddenly realized what he was saying and changed the topic quickly.

"I'm going to grab some flan real fast to get my energy back," he said, standing and moving away quickly. Once he was gone, Kuno looked at the two girls with her. Even Aerin looked surprised, meaning no one realized that Zarame might very well be more than the mercenary he acted.

~*~

After a short time of haggling, Zarame managed to buy flan and a ribbon. He sat at a nearby table where he once again saw a gunner and ninja talking, though this time it wasn't a fight. Decidedly, those two must be in a team too. Thinking about it was a welcome distraction to what he almost let slip.

"Zarame?" Brandon asked, walking up. He was drinking a bottle of garlic water. Not one of the most popular drinks, but it worked wonders on revitalizing a worn out warrior. The quiet and mostly absent member of their party, Whisper, was with him. Somehow, the ghost was holding his own bottle. "What's wrong? Weren't you just celebrating your victory with Miriam and Aerin?"

"I was, but I opened my big mouth and said something stupid," Zarame answered, shoving another spoonful of flan in his mouth.

"About what?" the gunner added, sitting down next to his best friend. The ghost joined, though he chose to gaze off at nothing. Whisper was never all there.

"I talked about my home world." Zarame began poking at his meal. Brandon knew about Zarame to an extent farther than the rest. It wasn't on purpose at first. The two and their mage friend that they lived with had had a night out on the town after a super successful mission they had all gone on. The result was loosening up just a little too much and Zarame stating that he wasn't only royalty at his home, but he was in line to become the next Overlord. "It just kind of slipped out when I was talking to Kuno. The cat gives me the impression of innocence at times and I tend to forget to watch what I say. I should have realized who else I was with a bit more, rather than just asking their questions." He let out a heavy sigh and took another bite. When he swallowed, he pointed his spoon at his friend. "Now, I doubt I'll ever relax with those three again."

"Hey it's not so bad, you were comfortable to tell them it then they must be getting close, right?" Brandon suggested. Zarame glared at his friend.

"No, and I don't know why you're thinking that's a good thing. Ending up on opposite ends of a battle would make things difficult. Being a mercenary means avoiding creating relationships. Even having a friendship becomes complicated. I accept you and our other roommate, and I accept being a team with these guys, but I'm not going to get comfortable with those girls. I told you, it just slipped because Kuno's an odd character."

Brandon sighed and then stood up. "Okay, Zarame, but remember that being a mercenary doesn't mean you need to break off relationships. I think you do it just to avoid getting hurt, to avoid losing someone you love."

The swordsman froze for a second and the gunner realized that tears were starting to form. Shoving his face into his hands, Zarame muttered one final word before closing up completely. "Aki..."

~*~

Round two of the fighting was decidedly going to start without Zarame. Aerin, Kuno, and Miriam believed it had something to do with their previous conversation, but Brandon in the far back, feeling extremely guilty and confused. Shito and Ran weren't there to help him figure out anything about the person Zarame mentioned, and that only made him feel more stressed. Did Zarame have anything to do with the death of the Aki they were trying to avenge?

No, he should be concerned over his friend's sorrow. After all, he was hurting and besides, he had mentioned that earlier it was a different Aki that he knew. However, just in case, Brandon walked over to the one person who might know anything about the dead Overlord. Zane, the other ninja, and his hell hound, Fenrir, were sitting by themselves. Rozy, Adell, and his family were talking with a druid about puzzles. There would be enough time for a short conversation only.

"Zane, I have a few questions," Brandon asked, walking up. The ninja nodded, his steel eyes locking onto the face of the gunner.

"It's about time someone approached me," he mumbled. "Someone outside of Nagi and the other ninjas, that is. I didn't expect anything from you though, what do you want to know?"

"About Aki. You worked for her right?"

"I said that didn't I?" Zane raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to know?"

Not even sure why he asked it, the first words out of his mouth once again hooked his best friend with the two sibling ninjas. "Did she ever do anything that would make her mistaken as a healer?"

Zane closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "There was a year or two that she took a lesson as a healer. I was still working for her at the time, so it was a very interesting thing to watch."

"Did you realize that there might be a connection between her and Zarame?."

The ninja's eyes shot open after Brandon said that. "I knew the moment he got introduced to the group, Brandon. But that's not my place to say. Yes, Zarame knew Aki too, but what he knows isn't going to help you out. There's also a limit on what secrets I will spill. If you want to know, ask him yourself, but realize that asking may ruin your friendship." He glanced at Adell who was gesturing at a red geo. "Come, the battle's about to start."

As it turned out, the battle was rather straight forward. Everyone obediently followed Adell's orders, standing on the squares that caused invincibility according to the puzzle. Of course, the leader druid couldn't move, sitting in the very center where another invulnerability panel sat. So the team defeated his minions first until Zane used his speed to reach the red geo. When it broke, the entire field went up in a chain of explosions.

Everyone was hurt, but there was still enough people to defeat the druid in the center and the battle was won. Brandon quickly rushed off the stage once announced the victor and headed to Zarame. He had been thinking and finally came to the conclusion about what to do.

When he arrived, though, he hesitated. Kuno was standing over Zarame who was still at the table where Brandon left him. His flan was gone and Zarame had laid his head down on the table. He was asleep and tears had stained his cheeks. Completely open. It was something Zarame almost never did. The Nekomata pulled a chair over and sat next to Zarame, brushing his hair softly. She truly looked concerned, but her shaking body told Brandon that she was nervous.

Zarame opened his eyes after a few minutes, his entire eye as red as his iris. He glanced up and found Kuno's eyes immediately. For a second he just stared, then his eyes widened again and he stood up. "Kuno?" he asked hesitantly.

"You worried about your Aki again?" Kuno questioned. "Did she die too?"

Zarame forced his gaze away from hers. "I... I don't know. I have to go. Forget everything I told you earlier." He walked away, stopping only when he spotted Brandon around the corner, trying to sneak away unnoticed. "Brandon, come with me."

"Ah, yes sir."

~*~

A/N: Short chapter but R&R anyway please!


	8. Chapter 8: Kuno and Aki

From The Side

Chapter 8

A/N: 2 of 5 for the week. Upped the rating to T due to the nature of what's going to happen in the near future.

~*~

_At first it was obviously a dream. He wasn't the teenager that he was back then but still, there were the three of them. His brother was standing tall and grinning over the field as if envisioning what it would be like when his own home was built on it. Then there was the girl about his brother's age. At first he hated her, thought her nothing more than a nuisance to demon-kind, but he gradually came to accept her._

_Despite her always peaceful appearance, she had hair as deep red as the blood that flowed from his enemies. Her eyes were of a deep blue that seemed to hold an ocean of wisdom, experience, and love. 'With her, I could become something more than a demon.' That was what he had always thought._

_But it was a dream, after all he hadn't seen either of them since the last few years of his adolescence. His brother he'd seen more recently than her, but not by choice. No, that was because..._

_Once his mind accepted that there was something stopping him from seeing his red-haired maiden, the whole field was suddenly on fire. He panicked and memories came flooding back. Forgetting that it was nothing but a dream, he ran as fast as he could towards a fortress in the distance. Even as he ran he found the scattered remains of what he and his brother were going to live in and the dead bodies of the workers. Smaller bodies were also on the road to the fort, forcing tears to his eyes as he recognized each one._

_A howl of rage echoed through the night air and he stopped. Changing the direction he was going, he quickly found an army of orcs surrounding two small ninja children and the girl he was looking for. Excited she was still alive, he moved forward but had to stop again as the world shifted as dreams do. When it returned to something stable, he was kneeling in front of the red haired woman, tears streaming now as he gazed into her cold blue eyes. His hands were stained red with her blood and there were wounds from her sword all over his body. The orcs around him said something that angered him, but nothing could overcome the sorrow he felt as the last moment of Aki's life past. All he saw was her blue eyes, now nothing but empty waters._

~*~

Zarame woke up to someone combing his hair and tiredly looked over at who was doing it. Seeing blue eyes startled him and it took him a moment to realize the pink hair was not blood red and the face belonged to Kuno. He forced back the bitter words and chose only to confirm that his mind was in the right place. "Kuno?"

"You worried about your Aki again? Did she die too?" the Nekomata asked, her eyes filled with concern.

The similarities in the two were too much. The shade of red hair, their manner of speaking concern for him, and even the way they styled their hair in the ponytail above the scalp, letting the rest hang loosely around their body. But the most troubling similarity was the eyes. Kuno's weren't as wise as Aki's, but they held curiosity instead, the same experience, and a similar deep love for those around her. He turned his face away from hers. "I... I don't know. I have to go. Forget everything I told you earlier." He'd almost forgotten that himself, so when it came out his mind sunk more into depression. He stood up and began to walk off before Kuno could stop him.

Seeing Brandon just outside of view, he began to walk directly up to him, but chose instead to have Brandon follow him. "Brandon, come with me."

"Yes sir," came the guilty response.

The two walked side by side for a little while, Brandon staring at the floor anxiously and Zarame gazing ahead at nothing. They came at last to an empty room, save for a white haired man with chains on his wrist and ankles. Ignoring the familiar person, Zarame faced Brandon directly. "Can I hit you with the promise you won't hate me afterwards?"

Brandon hesitated before answering. "Yes, but so long as you can answer one question."

"Just one?"

"Yes."

"Fair enough. What's the question?"

"What was your relationship with this Aki person who seems to be popping up a lot?" Brandon asked. When Zarame didn't answer immediately, the gunner turned to face the samurai. He met a fist instead, a hit hard enough that he stumbled back to the wall in the room. He rubbed his face and barely heard Zarame's response.

"She was my first friend and the only demon I've ever loved. The feelings I had for her, though, were not returned, so nothing came of it." It was Zarame's turn to avoid his friend's gaze and he once again began to walk away from his problem.

Brandon called out, "Is that why you act as distant as you do?"

The samurai stopped and turned around, a smirk on his face now. "Only one question, Brandon. Or do you want a second hit?"

"Ah, no I'm good."

~*~

Adell and Rozalin were waiting with Tink when Zarame showed up. Adell grinned the way he always did, oblivious to the problems Zarame was having. He wasn't an idiot, he just never noticed what wasn't in front of him unless he tried. If Adell was seeking out the issues of his teammates, Zarame was sure Mr. Chivalry would've gotten more than just one answer from him.

"So, I was just talking to Mr. Chivalry here and we decided that you two would make a good team," Rozalin announced.

Zarame couldn't help but chuckle for a short moment. "My nickname's going around?"

"Well, if ze shoe fits, no?" Tink replied, letting out his 'oh-ho-ho-ho' laugh afterwards.

"Hey, you guys just haven't realized that helping your team out a little bit is just the way things should be done," Adell replied.

"Yeah, your team not your enemies." Zarame rolled his eyes.

"A good deed goes a long way," Hanako added, standing at her brother's feet. "At least that's what Adell used to always say when Tardo and I were younger."

"Anyway, I'm surprised Zarame. You seem to be accepting the word 'team' a bit more," Rozalin stated. "What brought this change about?"

"I could say the same to you, you're not as vicious about fighting being here with Adell," Brandon muttered, but his comment was ignored.

"As much as I hate to admit it, it was the battle with that idiot in the first round that made me realize I did need allies." Zarame sighed. "He was like a cockroach, he just wouldn't die and that left me unable to take out their fighters farther back."

"Yeah, I know another cockroach," Adell stated.

"Axel?" everyone else asked.

"Duh," Adell replied.

There was a bit more of friendly conversation between Adell, Rozalin, and Zarame that surprised everyone else since the three seemed to so different. Hanako, Taro, and Tink all left when Adell mentioned they needed a little bit more fairy dust for when Miriam ran out of energy to cast spells. They figured they'd kill two birds with one stone: get prepared for battle and escape the random conversations the three had about how to battle. Hanako explained to her younger brother that while Adell was still great, those three were too much of "battle and strategy junkies" to be able to handle normal things when around each other. At least they all found something they had in common.

"But I can only throw so far," Adell noted, crossing his arms at a particular comment Zarame had made.

"That's why if you can't throw as far as, say, a warrior then you try to throw the ones who can move more afterwards. Like Kuno or Zane. It's actually ideal," Zarame explained.

"I think it's better for the ones who can take more hits to hold the weaker ones so that they can live," Rozalin argued.

"Except that the two who can take the most beatings are Fenrir and Kuno, both of which can't lift anyone," both Zarame and Adell countered.

"Besides, you just want to avoid taking damage yourself. If you don't wanna get hit, stay back like a good gunner," Kuno cheered, jumping over to the rest. She sat down immediately, sparing only a glance at Zarame.

The samurai realized belatedly that he had just forced Kuno away a second time, though this last one was not on purpose. While he and his boss were getting along, the Nekomata probably wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

"Feeling better, Zarame?" the cat girl asked, still not looking at him.

"Eh? Uh, yeah I am," Zarame replied.

"Oh right, you had pretty nasty wounds. That's why you sat out last battle. I take it you can participate in the next one," Adell said.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

They heard the announcement for the group to once again head to the arena and all got up to go. Kuno waited behind, staring expectantly at Zarame, but when he didn't notice anything she followed after them.

The young ninja girl, Yukimaru, appeared once more as well. Evidently she'd won all her fights by default so she was still going strong. With a few moments where "zam" came at the end of everyone's sentences, they all went on their merry way until Tink commented on that girl being the one who turned him into his frog form.

"Oh, I forgot that wasn't your true form. It fits you too well," Zarame had joked, which resulted in laughter from most of the group. However, Rozalin and Tink glared at him and he chose not to continue to pick on the flying frog.

The battle started with a smug comment that proved the Dark Hero had it in for them. Of course, that wasn't a surprise, especially when compared to the next group of enemies being even more girls than Mr. Undefeatedable's group. There were two cat girls, three plant-like girls, and three succubi, though one stood ahead of the rest. Obviously she was the leader.

"Elenor?" Adell gasped.

"You know her?" Rozalin questioned, showing a hint of jealousy. Adell turned away, but he didn't respond.

"An ex-girlfriend?" Hanako asked.

"I wouldn't put it past him, if she was once human that is," Zarame added.

"No! Our relationship wasn't like that!" Adell barked.

"But wasn't it, Adell?" Elenor responded.

"No, it as not. Elenor is the reason why I hate girls," Adell replied, crossing his arm.

Zarame saw a look in the succubus's eye that reminded him of something else. A look Kuno gave him and a look Aki gave her brother. He held his breath, trying to figure out what it meant. No matter how much he thought about it, he came up with no answer.

"Zarame, we're getting ready for battle," Brandon whispered.

"Oh, right, sorry," the samurai muttered.

Adell, Kuno, and Zarame took the direct front, while Zane and Fenrir chose to explore the sides. According to the strategy, Rozalin would remain behind to guard the spell casters: Miriam, Hanako, Nagi, and Whisper. More organized now than they had been the previous two battles, the fighting ensued quickly. Hanako did a constant "buff and run" since she required to remain close to her allies. Consequently, Fenrir and Zane never received their buffs.

The women were defeated quickly, and Adell found himself face to face with Elenor, already so weakened that she knew she lost. "You've improved, Adell," she coughed. "I've lost."

"You'll never beat me again," Adell said confidently. Zarame and Rozalin moved up beside him, all ignoring Axel as he announced in a rather disappointed voice who the victor was.

"Well, maybe you're still interested in our deal? I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"I don't care anymore. I have my family right here, and my friends also here. I don't even think about them anymore."

A vague answer. Zarame glanced at Adell, but he showed no sign of what he was talking about. Who? Zarame wanted to ask, but knowing how it felt to be asked about something painful. Instead he kept quiet.

However, the succubus said something else that brought realization to him. "You don't know how to treat a lady, do you Adell? It is a pity, you'll have a long road ahead of you." The last sentence was directed at Rozalin.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Rozalin stammered.

"Oh, you know what I mean very well." Elenor sighed and stood up. "Adell, just remember to say 'thank you' and 'sorry' at the right times and a girl like that will fall head over heels."

Instantly Zarame spun away from the duo who were now fighting in vain to say they weren't a couple. He hadn't told Kuno sorry. He hadn't told anyone sorry except Brandon and Adell was a different case altogether. Kuno, though, he had been rude to at least twice. And it didn't hurt that now he couldn't help but compare her to Aki.

Only by appearance, though. He didn't hold the same feelings.

"Kuno!" Zarame called, running up as Kuno was finishing up bandaging the wounds that Miriam didn't manage to heal in battle.

"Zarame?" the Nekomata asked.

The swordsman hesitated. He never said sorry, not since he became a mercenary. And even if she did remind him of Aki, he was trying to throw away his past. But she was gazing at him now expectantly. Taking a deep breath, he finally spoke. "I wanted to say thanks. You are a bit of an idiot, for doing it, but you keep going at trying to make nice with me. And on that note, I apologize," he stated, pausing only for a second as he realized he insulted her while trying to apologize. "I apologize for being rude to you so many times, especially this last time. I didn't do it on purpose, I was just unnerved from some events earlier."

Kuno's eyes widened as he spoke. She scratched her ears and thought for a few moments before finally responding. "Yeah, I believed I was an idiot too, since I thought you would never make friends with anyone. I thought Brandon was a friend in name only. However, when we fought that other samurai, you accepted us and I thought I was one step closer to making friends with you." Kuno looked around and then grinned. "I'm not sure why you're apologizing now, but I accept your apology." She wagged her tail and then heard Aerin not too far off calling for her. "Hey, I gotta go, but you take care Zarame." She trotted off and called back when she hit the end of the hall. "Does this mean we're friends?"

Zarame nodded. "Yes, we are."

Kuno's tail swayed faster and she giggled. "Thanks! You're not as bad as everyone thought!"

At least not anymore, Zarame thought.


	9. Chapter 9: Between Battles

From the Side

Chapter 9

A/N: Uh, sorry for not updating yesterday. Stuff came up but I'll make it up by updating Saturday instead. Oh when we're done with the coliseum I will a little bit of time to go back and edit the previous chapters so don't leave during those 2 or so weeks!

Anyway, read and review. Here's 3/5 of the week complete with your daily dose of Kuno.

~*~

Apparently, the healer of their group carried a lot of staves for whenever she lost them. Last battle she was using a rod slightly weaker than her normal prinny rod. That cute weapon had been left behind by accident in one of the audience sections when she went to watch a different fight. Due to her faster nature and extreme energy, Kuno offered to help.

The nekomata practically bounced down the halls as she weaved through the crowds of fighters who were limping towards the 'loser' chamber. There would be less and less waiting time between fights as the competition continued so Kuno didn't have much time. Still, she happily sung as she made her way through. "I've gotten to see so many faces of that stone faced swordsman, of that stone faced swordsman. I've heard him say so many things, that stone faced swordsman, that stone faced swordsman. He pretends to hate everyone, but in reality he's real... dumb? No, um, he pretends to hate everyone but in reality he's lots of fun. He blushes from ear to ear, that stone faced demon, that stone faced demon," she cheered, going into a hum afterwards because her creativity had been lost on the first verse. In reality, the song was usually a slower pace and about preserving the lands through whatever destruction the rest of the non-nekomata groups caused. Kuno preferred her version over the dumb winter tribe song, though.

As she arrived at the viewer's room, she found it mostly empty. Well, considering the teams fighting were a bunch of prinnies, probably Etna's, and a team of vicious looking rifle demons, it seemed to have an obvious choice of who would win. There were mostly just a few people scattered around so it was easy to find the staff that had miraculously not been stolen. Maybe it was something about picking up something with a figurine shaped similarly to one of the teams or maybe Miriam was just lucky. She wagged her tail and spun around to leave when she heard a small group talking. They obviously weren't interested in the penguin-vs-giant fight.

"I'm thinking of switching my vote," one said. He was a black orc. His two companions were a majin, the ultimate warriors supposedly, and a familiar looking white dragon. "To Team Adell or whatever it's called."

"You're going to take half off your winnings, Ogrin?" the white dragon asked.

Ogrin, Ogrin, where have I heard that, Kuno thought

"Well, if that swordsman really is Zarame then I'd rather win at least half of my prizes," Ogrin noted, standing up. "I'll be back in a bit."

All thoughts of his name fled and Kuno withheld a squeal of glee for the transfer, though she was curious. The orc said Zarame's name as if he was famous but she hadn't heard of him before all of this. Of course, she hadn't been exploring the worlds for very long either.

The remaining two began to talk to each other and the nekomata found herself eavesdropping again. "It's his choice, but I doubt they'll win. I'm putting my money on Tarj," the majin muttered, looking out on the rifle demons.

"Of course you would, if you had money to put on them. They're your servants," the white dragon chuckled. "But more importantly Spectre, I've been hearing rumors about you lately. You and your little messenger brat."

"Do not insult my students," Spectre said quietly.

"Oh! It's Eclipse!" Kuno suddenly cheered, running in between the two. Spectre and the white dragon stared at her with wide eyes. "I thought I recognized you! You vanished, suddenly. If you're curious, we're doing fine. Oh not that that means we don't miss you, but I figured you would want to know that we managed to get Taro and Hanako back safely and the new teammate we got is turning out to be an awesome ally. But I take it you already know that. Is Zarame famous or something?" Her words were coming out a mile a minute and Eclipse couldn't help but give another chuckle.

"In a sense," he said mysteriously. He turned to Spectre. "Spectre, this is Kuno, a member of Team Adell." Spectre simply nodded. Kuno waved. "You seem to be full of energy today. You're usually active, but you're practically glowing. What happened?"

"Zarame said sorry, well, I mean it's a bad thing he felt he had to, but I mean..." Kuno trailed off, thinking of what to say. "Basically, I feel like he's letting me in more, like were friends. Oh, he said we are so I guess we're good." But she wanted more, to be as close as Brandon maybe.

The expressions on Spectre's and Eclipse's faces were not expected. Eclipse was surprised and Spectre was horrified. Kuno brushed her ear and stared for a few moments before breaking the silence. "Something wrong with what I said?"

"Ah, no nothing. Zarame's just infamous for being ruthless, a model demon," Eclipse lied. Kuno wasn't even sure how she knew he was lying, just that he was. Still she let it drop because Spectre was glaring at her now and she had to get away from him. She gave a quick bow and a good-bye and left the audience section.

In the hallway, though, she ran into yet another surprise. A girl with blue hair and green tail and ears, an upper class Nekomata known as a Tailring. She had a group behind her, though all were injured to the point that battling would be tough. And all of them had on a necklace that had one simple bead. The bead was a dark gray with red lines and it was shaped like a seed. It was only a rock, but years ago they did use seeds as a symbol of their tribe. And the girl in front also had a familiar scar across her right jawline.

"Sierra?" Kuno gasped, holding back the urge to flee. It'd been so long since she saw her tribe that she was afraid she'd never want to leave.

The girl in the lead regarded Kuno carefully. "Kuno, I see you're doing well."

"Are you here for the coliseum?"

"Yeah, that was the plan at least," Sierra murmured, looking at her injured crew. "Now we're just spectators."

"What happened?" Kuno was a little shocked. Of the entire tribe, Sierra was the strongest and quickest fighter. Everyone wanted her skill, and the people behind her were the ones closest to catching up—Kuno excluded of course.

Sierra didn't answer, looking bitterly to the side. "I'd rather not speak of it. Just keep an eye out when night comes or you'll regret it." The group began to move on and Kuno grabbed Sierra's arm.

"Wait, can't we sit and talk a little while?"

Sierra glanced at Kuno and then looked past her. "No, I don't think you should. Your team might think you're betraying them. Good luck anyway." Sierra pulled free and then stopped willingly with one last thing to say. "It's best if you don't keep up that innocent charade that you do. I can see you acting even when I simply see you fighting."

Kuno stood there, confused for a few moments and then just laughed. "I'm not acting, Sierra. Not anymore. I admit, I don't speak my mind entirely and I try to bite back a few mean words but really I smile because I'm happy. I'm kind because I think my team deserves more than another cruel person. Besides, Adell has taught me that saving our enemies may help us in the end, not hinder us." She scratched her ear and shrugged. "Well, in most cases. Some cockroaches chose to hinder us continuously." Ah, Axel would forever be an annoyance. Of that, Kuno was sure.

The two eventually separated and Kuno returned to the group, holding out the staff to Miriam. Miriam took it and smiled at Kuno. "Thanks, if I lost this I don't know what I'd do."

"Can't you buy a better one?" Kuno asked. Adell had a better reputation with the shops and the Dark Assembly had decided he was allowed.

Miriam looked at Kuno and then the staff quizzically. "I suppose I could, but then that would be a lot of effort. You see, Nagi and I managed to bring this thing all the way through the upgrades in the Item world." She glanced at the star skull and then grinned. "It'd be such a pain to do a better weapon. Besides, it's just too cute."

"Somehow, I thought you'd say that," Adell stated, laughing as he walked up. "We've got about ten minutes until we're back up apparently. Glad you made it back in time. Anything make you stall?"

"Ah, I suppose. I met up with some old friends," Kuno stated, smiling. "And I found someone who was changing their bet to our team."

"Hey, that's good news!" Adell cheered. "We're making an awesome impression! We're sure to win this!"

"We're not even half way," Rozalin retorted. Adell sighed.

"You don't have to ruin it," Adell moaned.

Kuno giggled and watched her two leaders walk away. The healer attracted her attention once more by clearing her throat. "Hm? Do you have something to tell me?" Kuno asked, sitting down next to Miriam, despite the fact the healer was standing.

"Yes, I was wondering what you and Zarame were talking about before I sent you on my quest?" Miriam asked, pulling out a brush and then getting to work on straightening her hair.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well, after you left and I returned to the group, Zarame was here for a little while. However, he soon ran off when someone made a comment—Waffle or Hanako I believe—about how a proper demon should act. They mentioned him and Etna, saying they were prime examples. Adell wasn't too happy about it, but that was what we all thought would happen. Zarame however didn't respond, he just turned and walked away, mumbling something about finding you. I think he was angry."

Kuno took Miriam's brush and began doing the same to her hair. There were a lot more knots in her pink ponytail. "I don't think I said anything that would irritate him. He's the one who did most of the talking anyway." She paused mid-stroke. "I think. But mostly I just got him to call me his friend."

"You didn't do anything, Kuno," the person in question suddenly said, his hair newly clipped up in the bun he always had from before. "And I wasn't irritated."

"Oh you weren't? Then what was the problem?" Miriam questioned.

"That's a good question. Maybe it was you sending Kuno off and then just relaxing here. Or maybe it was the irony of Hanako wanting to become a demon while her brother wants her to return to a human."

"She was born a monster, you know," Miriam said.

"But she should've been born a human, if it wasn't for Zenon. Nevertheless, it's just a maybe that's what the problem was. I wasn't angry anyway, I just didn't want to hang around and I figured I could find a clip for cheap. Turns out I did. Anyway, how much longer until the next match?"

"Probably five minutes," Kuno answered, tail wagging.

"I see," the swordsman replied and he began to walk away. Kuno jumped up and ran after him.

"Hey Zarame! Guess what just happened?" she cheered, the two getting into a one-sided conversation as they walk off.

Miriam sighed. "Between those two and our two leaders, I'm not sure which relationship will truly start first," she stated, laughing gently to her staff.

"I just hope Adell and Kuno know what they're dealing with in terms of who they're approaching," Zane said suddenly, appearing from the shadows, like many ninjas do.

"What do you mean?" Miriam asked.

"Well, both Rozalin and Zarame come with heavy baggage that they're either ignoring or are just oblivious to, and that will cause the other two a lot of trouble," Zane explained.

"I see," Miriam muttered, looking at her feet. She looked back at Zane again and shrugged. "Why are you telling me this? You've always kept to yourself."

"Well, you seem like the least likely to spread my secrets. Outside of Fenrir of course."

"Fenrir is hardly a decent conversationalist though."

"That's what you think. But that's beside the point. I recommend you don't just sit idly by if you're interested in their relationships. You should either back down or work on forcing them together. Only the extremes will allow this to turn out even remotely well." Zane faded back into the shadows.

"Would Team Adell come to the arena?" Axel's voice echoed down the hallways.

"It's time," Miriam sighed, feeling extremely at a loss. Zane needed to tell everyone what he knew. It would make everything so much easier.

~*~

(Good idea: playing game music while typing this. Bad idea: watching fruits basket before typing this. Guess which parts were inspired by what?)


End file.
